The Last Keys
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: The team is closing in on the last set of Ranger Keys, the Dino Thunder keys...but when they are the World's most Wanted, and the keys are in the possession of one of the most famous people on the planet, how easy will they be to get?
1. Chapter 1

**Legal: **I do not own Power Rangers, or the associated names, places, names, characters, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

**Rating: **T – there will be some adult themes and language.

**A/N: **Yes, I'm BACK! I know it's been a while, but I'm back and ready to start writing again! The con was great, and once again I will say if you get the chance, I would urge ANY PR fan to go at least once!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the start of the new story!

The only word to describe the atmosphere on the Sky Ship was tense. Things were tense, and more than a little dangerously quiet. As a result of recent developments, the team had more than a few issues to deal with, several new problems, but more than anything, it had thrown up a few issues between members of the team. As things stood, those issues right now were slowly bubbling just under the surface, like a saucepan with the surface just waiting to allow the first bubble to pop through.

The team was pointedly aware that now more than ever, they needed to pull together. Vrak and Vekar had shown that they were in no danger of letting up the pressure any time soon, and things were only getting tougher, so the team was aware that now was not the time to air grievances. They all adopted the approach that if they had nothing nice to say, they said nothing...which made the ship more than a little quiet. They drifted around quietly, exchanging some greetings and pleasantries as they went about their business, but little else.

Gia had taken the de facto leadership of the team, and was functionally the captain after Troy left to recuperate following his battle with Lafitte. It wasn't a job she had asked for, or particularly relished. Troy had only named her as his replacement because in the few instances he hadn't been with the team before, they had looked to Gia for leadership by nature. Gia took the responsibility seriously, and wanted everyone to be safe, but there was always a part of her that wished Troy would come back so that she wouldn't have the responsibility anymore, not least because she was painfully aware of the fact that Emma, while never saying anything, had to have a little resentment about the fact Gia was filling Dead Man's Shoes...and those shoes just so happened to belong to Emma's boyfriend.

Emma was becoming a lot more quiet and introverted, largely because Troy was no longer on the ship. While they had kept a lid on things for the sake of their friends, who had to leave loved ones behind, they had always taken a certain measure of strength from each other. It wasn't as though Emma was weak, but she couldn't help thinking about Troy, wishing she knew what he was doing, how he was getting on learning to cope following the amputation of his leg. She wished she could be there for him, and wanted dearly to be by his side, but she had to stay with the team. She spent longer and longer taking pictures over the side of the ship and scrolling through them on her camera, doing anything she could to fill the long days.

Noah and Jordan had pretty much sealed themselves in the workshop, working on Noah's latest attempt to create the cannon he had tried to deploy in battle. So far, the only thing anyone knew about how progress was going was some loud banging, some raised voices when nerves were frayed, some colourful curses when something went wrong...and the occasional explosion when something went VERY wrong! As long as they didn't wreck the ship in the meantime, the others knew it was for the best to just leave them to it. It was their way of coping.

Jake had taken to working out alone, for longer periods of time. He had said he just wanted to be ready for if they had to do battle again, but the way he would walk out of the room any time he saw Orion told the whole story.

Orion was also quiet, and spent a lot of his time in prayer, ever since he figured out that Argus was his friend and former comrade Marv. He had figured it out between things Argus had said and done in battle, not least of which was his use of a technique he had only ever seen Marv use. Now that he had explained, none of the Rangers were exactly surprised that he had refused to destroy him when he had the chance, but that didn't mean that right now, some of them weren't concerned for their future battles. Jake had called Orion on the fact he hadn't destroyed Argus, and Orion had already said in front of the whole team that he wouldn't do it.

As Gia was at the table, consulting the map, Tensou flew over, landing next to her.

"That's the fifth time you've looked at the map." Tensou told her. "Malta's not changed location in the last five minutes!"

Gia just sighed. They knew where they were going, they had already figured out who they were trying to find to get them the Dino Thunder keys, and as a bonus, they hadn't even had to hit Tensou over the head to find out, something that he was grateful for.

It wasn't exactly hard to find out where they were going. Kira Ford was one of the world's most famous singers, and had been on tour for months. A ten second Google search was able to give them her touring schedule, meaning they would know where she was, right down to the exact arena at any time. Finding out where the former Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger wasn't the problem though.

"I know Tensou." She muttered. "I just..."

"You were hoping the map would somehow tell you how to get to her?" He asked her in response. Gia just glared at him. She knew that finding Kira wasn't a problem, the problem was how exactly they would get to her. Kira's fame was as much of a problem as it was a benefit. The fact was that they were still wanted fugitives. It was risky enough going into some cities. Approaching a rock star who was pretty much constantly surrounded by security and police pretty much everywhere she went was not a simple prospect.

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas." She said gruffly. Tensou just looked to her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"You're right Tensou." She conceded. "Knowing where she is won't really matter if we can't get to her."

"You could always use a little force." He suggested. "It would look good in front of The Armada if you kidnapped her. At least it wouldn't look like she volunteered to go with us."

"I really don't want to use force if I don't have to." Gia told him. "Those security guys have family, it's not their fault they're in the way, it's not like they're X-borgs. We can't exactly just beat the crap out of everyone that gets in our way."

"So what are you going to do?" He asked her. Gia just sighed and shook her head.

"We'll call that plan B." She told him. "But as for plan A...I'll let you know when I figure it out."

Just then, there was a loud bang from the direction of the workshop, at which Noah came out, his hair smoking slightly.

"Um...first aid kit?" He asked. Gia just pointed, at which he headed out of the room.

"I just hope I figure it out before Noah blows up the ship." She grumbled.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Damaras made his way down the corridor towards his own private chambers, casting a critical eye around as he went. X-borgs were doing a variety of tasks, from patrols of the corridors, to mundane tasks like cleaning and basic maintenance.

Damaras was now more keenly aware than ever that he was surrounded by robots pretty much all of the time. When Argus had gone to Earth against his orders, at first he had suspected a malfunction, but now he knew differently. Lavira had told him herself that she had activated an over-ride programme within Argus' base codes that allowed her to assign him to a non-existent ship, one on which she was listed as the Chief Tactical Officer, meaning that as long as Vekar wasn't around, she had functional control of him.

He was furious when he found out, and had threatened to have her executed for treason, but a simple command from her had turned several of the droids against him. Although he valued the robotic soldiers highly for their lack of fear and self-preservation instincts, it had always troubled him that their loyalty was never REALLY loyalty. They only did what their programming allowed them to do. While that was generally for the best, with living soldiers like most of the Commanders, he could understand their motivations and guarantee their loyalty by pandering to those motives. In the case of the robots, as he had found out to his cost, if that programming was changed...their loyalty changed too!

Now, he found himself on a ship, filled with robots, with no idea how many of them he could rely on. Lavira had warned him, reminded him that as the chief science officer, she did all the programming and maintenance of all the weapons on the ship. Potentially, every single X-borg and bruiser on the ship could turn on him in an instant if she ordered it. The only reason she hadn't already had him gunned down was because while she suspected he wasn't loyal to the prince, she had no proof, and knew she would have to answer to Vekar if anything happened to Damaras. Right now, his very life relied on the prince believing he was loyal.

He closed the door, and jammed all surveillance within the room as he looked for his encoded communicator. He activated it, bringing up a line.

"What is it Damaras?" Vrak asked in an impatient tone. Damaras had been convinced some time ago that Prince Vekar was a liability. He knew that Vrak was by far the better tactician and leader, and had been plotting with him to overthrow Vekar. He knew that what he was doing was a risk, but having fought for the Royal Family for so long, he was convinced that his loyalty required him to take care of any threat to the throne, even if that threat was within the Royal Family itself!

"Lavira suspects my loyalty." Damaras told him. Vrak just looked into his screen.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"What do you mean, 'is that all?'" Damaras asked pointedly. "She suspects my loyalty! If the Prince..."

"My little brother is as foolish as he is conceited." Vrak told him. "You have undermined him for years without arousing his suspicion."

"Lavira is no fool!" Damaras reminded him.

"She is a glorified mechanic!" Vrak stated.

"She turned Argus with a single command, she turned the droids on me with a simple command!" He yelled, relaying the incident to Vrak. "I am surrounded by soldiers she could order to eliminate me at any moment!"

"You always knew this was a risky course of action." Vrak answered. "Still, don't worry, I have things well in hand."

"Did you not hear what I said?" Damaras asked. "If she ever becomes convinced of this, she has an army at her disposal! We're both finished!"

"Trust me." Vrak said with a smile as he signed off. Damaras just growled in frustration as he put the communicator away. He already hated the fact that his fate was now very much in Vrak's hands. Now, he could only hope that Vrak's confidence in his plans wasn't misplaced.

In a hotel room in Valeta, Malta, Kira came in the door with a bell hop, who was carrying her bags, and Marge, her manager. She had more luggage, but most of it were costumes and props for her concert in the city the following night, and so were being taken to the venue. She only had her own bag with her, but made a habit of getting bell hops to take her to her room so that she could question them about the local area. One of the things she loved about touring was getting the opportunity to see different places and immerse herself in different cultures.

"So the bus tour begins in an hour?" Kira asked. The bellhop just nodded.

"Yes Ms. Ford." He replied. "It'll pick up right outside..."

"Excellent." Kira told him, handing him some cash. "And the restaurant can accommodate a vegan diet?"

"It can indeed." He assured her. Kira just smiled.

"Well, book me a table for four people at eight then." She answered.

"I'll do that right away Ms. Ford." He assured her as he left. Marge just shook her head.

"I'll never understand you." She told her. "You're actually paying over the odds to ride on a bus that's older than your Grandfather, has dodgy suspension and no air con?"

"You have no sense of culture." Kira said in a small laugh. "Taking a ride on the Leyland is kind of like taking old Route 66!"

"Well, I like my air con." Marge replied, opening up a tablet as Kira started to unpack. "Anyway, since we have an hour, I thought I'd show you the concept sketches for the new t-shirts."

"Sure, whatever." Kira replied as she came closer. Marge started to scroll through some ideas. "That's a little close to last year's...that one's kind of dull..."

Her jaw dropped as she saw one.

"Oh, my God!" She exclaimed. "That's it!"

"Really?" Marge asked her. "I thought..."

"Marge, that is absolutely perfect!" Kira yelled in delight. "It's...my God, if we market those...we won't be able to keep them on the shelves! Who came up with this?"

"One of the newbies we picked up." She replied. "She's more than a little...well...she's a whack job!"

"Some people say the same thing about me." Kira reminded her. "Bring her in here! I want to talk to her now! If her work's this good, I want to see more of it!"

"OK, if you insist." Marge sighed. She dialled her phone, finding the number she was looking for. "Hey, it's Marge here, Ms. Ford saw your idea for the t-shirt design, she says she wants to see you."

"She does?" The voice on the other end asked excitedly. "I mean...she really likes it?"

"Yeah, she wants to see more of your stuff." Marge replied. "Gather some of your work and come up to the Penthouse as soon as you can."

"Kay kay!" The girl on the other end replied as she hung up. Marge just sighed and shook her head.

"I will never understand your taste." She commented. "But as long as you keep churning out the hits, who am I to argue?"


	2. Interrupting

Lavira went into the Prince's chambers, finding him having his wounds attended to by some medical droids. In his battle against Jordan, he had demonstrated the new skills and powers he had developed under Argus' training. He had left Jordan laying, humiliated him and defeated him in short order, but as the fight neared its end, his arrogance exceeded his skill. He had attempted to use Argus' deadly Solar Flare attack.

Had anyone else suffered such injuries, it was almost a certainty they would have succumbed to them long before now. The Solar Flare was a powerful technique, mastered by only a handful of swordsmen across the known universe with good reason. Such was the destructive power it summoned that if wielded incorrectly, if it was off by even a fraction, it was just as dangerous to the one using it as it was to his enemies. Stories existed of students burning themselves up completely attempting it. Prince Vekar had access to some of the finest medical technology available, which was the only reason he had even survived.

Argus was standing in the corner, watching as the droids applied yet another layer of synthetic skin spray, a special compound that sealed wounds against infection and encouraged the regeneration of tissue. Although they had the technology, and standard practice would have been to simply use bionics and essentially rebuild any warrior that had been so badly harmed, even on death's doorstep Vekar's arrogance was such that he insisted he was not going to end up a hideous cybernetic hybrid. He was the Prince, he had to be seen as untouchable, indestructible. If he was going to show his face again, it was going to be HIS face, not some mechanical reconstruction. It slowed his recovery, but by now they were confident he would make a full recovery.

"OW! Watch it you useless incompetent tin can!" Vekar snapped at one of the medical droids as it inspected one of his burns for signs of infection, inadvertently pressing in on it. "It's bad enough that the Rangers assaulted me without you trying to kill me too!"

"My Lord, you inflicted those injuries upon yourself." Argus stated. Prince Vekar just glared at him.

"What was that?" He asked.

"No one forced you to attempt the Solar Flare." Argus reminded him. "You tried to use a technique you were not ready to use."

"Who asked you?" Prince Vekar snorted.

"You did." Argus responded honestly. "You told me that in your lessons I was to be uncompromising, pitiless and honest."

"I think I liked it better when you didn't talk back." Prince Vekar responded as he looked to Lavira. He smiled as he saw her. "Ah...Lavira, come to check on my progress have you?"

"We all eagerly await your return to full health." She answered as he gingerly put on some robes, trying not to rub off the synthetic skin. She approached him, showing him a tablet. "Here is the inventory of available troops just as you asked."

"Excellent, and the reinforcements?" He asked.

"They will be here within the month." She assured him. "There is something odd though...the delivery also sites a classified weapon..."

"There is no mistake." He told her. "When I have recovered, the Rangers are going to rue the day they ever crossed my path! I plan to deal with them personally!"

"Are you sure?" Lavira asked him. "The security clearance on that delivery is beyond my level. If you have a weapon, I would be more comfortable if I got to inspect it before you risked..."

"You worry too much Lavira." He told her, coming over and starting to gently stroke her cheek. She almost melted at his touch, and was thankful he couldn't see through her visor. She was certain that her eyes would give away the thoughts running through her mind at that moment. "Believe me; I want this to be a surprise, for you as well as the Rangers."

"But Your Highness..."

"Trust me a little won't you?" He said, winking at her, before gesturing to the door. "Now, if that is all, perhaps you can go and check on Damaras. He's sulking somewhere on the ship."

"Oh?" She asked, becoming a little concerned. "Did...did he say why?"

"Oh, he started to say something about you, but I really couldn't be bothered listening. You know him." Prince Vekar answered, waving her off. "He's always complaining about something. You just make sure my army is in top fighting shape when I'm ready to go."

"I will do as you ask." She answered as she took a bow and walked away. She couldn't help grinning from ear to ear as she went. Prince Vekar watched her go as he fastened up his robes.

"Lavira really is quite a woman isn't she?" Vekar asked. Argus just looked at him.

"I do not understand." He responded. "In what regard?"

"Well, she is a smart one, possibly the only one in this sector that matches my intellect." He continued.

"It is not my place to assess the suitability of potential partners." Argus answered. "I do not think she is a noble, and I believe..."

"Details, details...I can bestow a peerage if I want. I'll make her duchess of Aquitar or something." He said, waving off Argus' remark.

"We...do not have control of Aquitar." He reminded Prince Vekar. The Prince just thought about it for a moment.

"Good point." He answered. "Remind me to invade Aquitar next."

"Your Highness, I believe your father had selected some potential..."

"My father selected a bunch of whining, arrogant, back-stabbing schemers who only want to get their claws into my throne." Prince Vekar told him. "Lavira has a trait none of them do...complete and unquestioned loyalty."

"Your Highness..."

"My own mother was a slave was she not?" He interrupted Argus. "I am the Prince, and I can do as I want. Now, why don't you go check on Lavira and Damaras? Make sure they don't kill each other in my absence."

"As you wish Your Highness." He said as he left the room. Prince Vekar sat in a chair, poured himself a drink, and turned on a monitor, connected to a video link directly into Lavira's laboratory, and settled in to watch.

The Rangers finally arrived in Malta, landing the Red Galleon in a hidden bay, and cloaking it before adopting some disguises to blend in. Although it was starting to come to the end of tourist season, there were still plenty of people around, meaning that they very quickly managed to attain the anonymity they were looking for.

The cab they had flagged at the coast tore away, blasting all of them with dust, at which everyone stared at Jake.

"What?" He asked. "I only asked..."

"Jake, you didn't have to talk slow and loud!" Gia told him. "Point number one, that really doesn't make you any easier to understand, it just makes us sound like ignorant American tourists."

"Well, I don't speak Maltese, do you?" He asked. "Does anyone?"

"Point number two, English is an official language here." Noah chipped in. "Pretty much everyone speaks English here. He probably thought you were making fun of him!"

"Well, there are a couple of hours between now and the concert." Emma stated, fishing out her camera. Jordan just looked at her.

"Seriously?" He asked. "You brought your camera?"

"We're meant to be tourists right?" Emma asked. "Besides, this is the home of the Knights of Saint John, the order of the Hospitaliers!"

"It's also where they filmed most of the King's Landing scenes in 'Game of Thrones'." Noah declared proudly. He pointed to the high, thick walls around the city. "Those are the walls that were seen in the Battle of the Black Water."

"OK, can we not talk about Game of Thrones?" Gia asked. "We need to find the concert hall, and then we need to find a scalp. Those tickets are sold out, and we'll be found out pretty quickly if Tensou tries to forge us a couple."

"The concert venue is this way." Noah told her, pointing up the path. They all started to follow her, with Emma taking up the rear, taking some photographs as she went. Jordan just looked to her curiously.

"What's with the Game of Thrones thing?" He asked. Emma just sighed.

"She used to watch that show all the time with Cat." She reminded him. "They both liked Danerys...Cat liked the dragons."

"Oh...right." He responded. "So, this is probably not the place she wants to be."

"Let's just say, if we get the keys and leave quickly, that'll probably be for the best." Emma told him.

In the penthouse suite of her hotel, Kira was looking through some more sketches and ideas for her merchandise for the tour. Kira was always keen to encourage any form of arts, and regularly encouraged her fans to post artwork and lyrics on her official website. Sometimes, she would contact the creators for their permission to use their ideas, and credited them for their contributions to her success. The artist in her room was something of a prodigy though, even by the standards of some of those she had borrowed ideas from. Kira became aware of an artist that posted work on a regular basis under the username Rotekatze2013, and when she found out that she was a student that had just graduated from art school, she had offered to take her with her on tour as a gap-year between high-school and college.

"This...this is all really amazing." She said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, but still conveyed exactly how impressed she was. "I swear...I don't know how you do it Cat, you're a genius!"

"It's been a long time since anyone called me that." Cat said with a smile from the veranda, a sketch book in her hand. She had always been a fan of Kira's music, as long as she could remember. When Kira had contacted her, gushing over some of her ideas for album covers and offered to take her on tour with her, she leapt at the chance. She and Gia had talked, mostly pipe-dreams stuff about going travelling before going to college. It was always something she wanted to do, to expand her horizons and see new places. "A lot of people think I'm..."

"I learned a long time ago not to care what a lot of people think." Kira assured her, putting her arm around the younger girl. "When I wasn't much younger than you, people didn't get me either! I was never exactly considered normal."

"I know, I don't mind." Cat told her as she continued sketching. Kira furrowed her brows and pulled in. She couldn't help looking over the young girl's shoulder, trying to get a good look at the sketch. "I always thought normal was kind of boring."

"That's pretty much what I thought." Kira told her. "Mind if I...?"

Cat held the pad tightly, but seeing the look on Kira's face, she eventually relented and handed it over. She took it, gazing at the sketch. It was an amazing piece, one that Cat had only been working on since she got to the penthouse and saw the view from the balcony. It was an excellent rendition of the city walls, and of the old buildings nearby, but on closer inspection, she could see a lot of things that weren't there. There were guards, bowmen along the battlements, but the most prominent thing was a large dragon flying over the battlements, breathing fire into the city.

"Um...I have um...I have a bit of a thing for..."

"Game of Thrones." Kira interrupted her. "Yeah, I like the show too...Cat, this is incredible!"

"It's kind of my interpretation of what I'd like to see happen." She told Kira as she started to fidget nervously. "I really want Daynerys to win. I really wanted Joffrey to end up as a chew toy for one of the dragons, but I guess being poisoned worked too."

"Wow, remind me not to get on your bad side!" Kira replied with a little laugh. "So...you really like the show?"

Cat fell silent as she asked this. Kira could see that something was on her mind.

"What is it?" Kira asked. "If I've said something wrong..."

"No, it's not that, it's just..." Cat's words tailed off as she thought about it. "I used to watch it a lot with my ex girlfriend."

"Oh." Kira replied.

"It's...it's been a long time." Cat continued. "We talked a bit about travelling before we started college. One of the things we really wanted to do was come to King's Landing."

"I'm really sorry." Kira told her.

"I'm just being silly." Cat answered. "So...you liked some of my designs?"

"Yeah, I really do." Kira told her. She pulled one out. "How quickly could you have this one made into stensils for a t-shirt design? I'd really love to see a run of shirts with this on them for the Italian leg of the tour."

"I should be able to have something worked up in a day or so." Cat told her. Kira just smiled.

"That's what I love to hear." She replied.

Up on the Armada Command Ship, Damaras was pacing through the corridors, edging his way through the ship cautiously. He was surrounded on all sides, completely and hopelessly outnumbered by robotic warriors, uncertain as to how many of them Lavira could set loose on him at a moment's notice. He had never taken Lavira seriously as a threat before, he generally thought of her as a glorified janitor, someone that simply made sure that the weapons worked for the soldiers who did the real fighting. Now though, he was seeing things in a whole new light.

Lavira was no mere mechanic. She was the Chief Technical Officer on the ship. She had access to all the systems and weapons at Prince Vekar's disposal. ALL of them! Not just the weapons, at some point or another Lavira oversaw all the scientific and mechanical issues on the ship. Air locks, door locks, surveillance systems...even the vending machines which provided the few soldiers on the ship with biological systems their food! She had already demonstrated that she could over-ride his command of Argus, and of some of the troops. There was no telling how far her influence stretched. Theoretically, she could turn every inch of the ship into a weapon, a death-trap! She could be watching him at any moment...and he wouldn't know! The only reason she hadn't ordered her own personal hit squad to eliminate him was because Prince Vekar believed he was still loyal. He knew she would never risk acting against one of his top officers unless the Prince ordered her to. He was under no false impressions, now his life was in danger, now more than ever! His only option was to ensure the Prince continued to believe he was loyal.

He made his way to Prince Vekar's chambers, stopping outside the door, and paused as he tried to think about what he was going to say. Accusing Lavira of anything without proof was not going to get him anywhere. Saying she was threatening him and he feared for his safety would be similarly useless. Prince Vekar honestly loved the cut-throat nature of those under his command, and believed that paranoia and cut-throat competition just encouraged the ambitious and strong-willed to rise to the top, meaning he was surrounded by some of the most vicious and hard-bitten officers available. No, Lavira had played a clever game, and right now his best option was to leave her unharmed...not that he wasn't already trying to think of ways to take advantage of any situation to put her in harm's way.

"Your Highness?" He asked, pressing the intercom. He didn't get an answer. "Your Highness, I have an urgent tactical report I need to discuss with you."

He still got no answer. Punching in a code, he opened the door. Inside, the Prince was sitting, watching the monitor of Lavira's lab, his robe hanging open, and a drink in his hand. As he heard the door opening, he snapped around, and saw Damaras coming in. His face immediately changed shade, and the drink fell from his hand, the glass shattering on the floor. He quickly got up, snatching his robe shut.

"DAMARAS!" He screamed.

"Your Highness...I...I apologise!" He stammered out. "I...I heard no answer, I didn't know you were in here, I was going to leave my report and come back..."

Damaras' words tailed off as he saw the screen, and could see Lavira working in her lab. Prince Vekar reached over and turned off the screen.

"Get the hell out of here!" Prince Vekar screamed at him.

"I...I...I..."

Prince Vekar picked up a bottle, throwing it across the room, where it smashed right next to his head. Damaras just started to back up.

"GET OUT!" He screamed. Damaras turned and left the room with as much dignity as he could muster. Once he was outside, he closed the door and started stroking his neck. He had seen what was on the screen...and he had a good idea what he had interrupted. This was a problem, one that could cost him his life if Vrak's schemes didn't come up with something soon.


	3. Search for a Star

Damaras made his way through the ship, more than a little flustered after what he had just witnessed. He had figured out that Lavira had her eye on the Prince since his recent obsession with his own power and development. He had confronted her about it, and had teased her about it, taking delight in the fact she seemed to believe that she would never have a chance with him. After all, she was just a servant; he was the one who would one day rule the whole galaxy! It was a notion he was sure would torture her, and he had delighted in seeing the pain it caused her at a time when she had called his loyalty into question.

Now that he knew she was only looking for confirmation that he was disloyal, and that she had demonstrated the power she had over the ship's systems, he knew that he was in a lot more danger than he first believed. Only the fact that the Prince believed him to be loyal to his throne was stopping her from disposing of him in some form of accident, and he knew it. She would never dare to bring a direct accusation of treason to the Prince without overwhelming, irrefutable evidence against one of his most trusted advisors.

However, seeing what he had...and it chilled him to even think about it now, he now knew that he had a serious problem. If she knew that the Prince...considered her as he now knew he did, then her word would carry a lot more weight. If she ever realised that her hopes of drawing his eye were not entirely futile, then it was possible she could become emboldened enough to voice her accusations to him. Worse still, if the Prince was as...enamoured...as Damaras now expected he was with her, it was possible he would believe her!

Vrak was no help at all. He still refused to let Damaras in on his overall plan, and he had simply told him to keep himself busy and under the radar. That was a hard thing to do when Lavira quite literally controlled the radar! The fact was, he needed something tangible, something that he could present to the Prince as proof that he was still working towards their victory. In short, he needed a win, and he needed it now!

He got to a mess hall, one of very few on the ship. There weren't many living creatures on the ship, but the few Commanders that were here needed somewhere to eat and to relax. Damaras usually made it a point to avoid this place, generally feeling like most of them were beneath him, but he was running short of time, and his usual tactical acumen was somewhat impaired at the moment. He just couldn't shake the image of the Prince...he shuddered to think of it.

He looked across to where a couple of Commanders were sitting with large flagons of ale, pounding the table as they took part in some game or other. It was a board game that was common among the Commanders, where vast quantities of money would change hands in a matter of minutes. It was kind of a cross between chess, battleships and nine-man's. Game pieces that were either spherical or dodecahedral in shape indicating the two players levitated within a 3-d holographic gaming grid.

"H-3-2 to J-2-9!" One of them declared. The piece moved through the space, at which it knocked out three of the spherical pieces. The Commander just smiled as he picked up his flagon.

"It won't take long at this rate Skeltox." He taunted his opponent. Skeltox took a long, deep gulp from his flagon before pointing to the grid.

"No, it won't." He responded. "J-1-3 to J-2-9."

The others watched as one of the spherical pieces moved, setting off a chain reaction of moves. The other commander could only watch as all his dodecahedral pieces floated out of the gaming grid, landing by Skeltox. When only spherical pieces remained, they started to swirl around, before a klaxon sounded.

"I believe that is game." Skeltox declared, holding out a hand. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I believe the wager was..."

"That...that's impossible!" The other Commander yelled, getting up, sending his chair clattering away. "You cheated!"

"Being a better player is not cheating." Skeltox replied casually. "Now, we did agree to a wager..."

"I won't pay a lousy, filthy cheating bag of bones like you!" He screamed. "You're a cheat and everyone here knows it!"

"All anyone here knows is that you are a poor loser, one who would be best advised to pay what he owes." Skeltox said as he leaned back in his chair. "If he knows what's good for him that is."

The other Commander reached to a harness on his back, pulling out a blaster rifle, but he was much too slow. Faster than he could react, Skeltox had pulled out his own weapon, which looked a lot like a fishing rod, and cast an energy beam into his chest. With a flick of his wrist, he yanked the beam back, which pulled out a glowing green image of the other Commander. The Commander's unconscious body fell to the floor, completely unmoving, as Skeltox put his weapon away. Damaras just stepped over the lifeless body. Such scenes were not uncommon when large quantities of money were at stake, and he had seen them a few times in his day.

"I hope you haven't cost us a valuable Commander." Damaras commented. Skeltox didn't get up, instead just laughing.

"Well, I'd dispute the point of him being useful, but he will survive." He responded. "Once I take what he owes me, I will return his spirit."

"That is an impressive skill you have." Damaras complimented him. "Tell me, does it work on powerful enemies, or can you only deal with petulant gamblers?"

"Have you heard of the siege of Antalos?" Skeltox asked. Damaras nodded. "That siege had raged for three years...I broke it in a day."

"That was you?" Damaras asked him, rifling through the fallen Commander's belongings, finding his cash. He held it up, showing it to Skeltox. "How do you feel about furthering your reputation? I have an assignment for you."

"Let me guess, six young humans in brightly coloured suits?" He asked. Damaras just nodded as he handed over the money. Skeltox counted out what he was owed, putting it away as he got up, before tossing the rest on the other Commander's body. "Well, I was kind of getting sick of taking money off these idiots anyway."

He held out a hand, transferring the spirit back into the other Commander, and looked to the others in the room.

"When he comes to, tell him no hard feelings." Skeltox stated as he followed Damaras out of the room to go and hear his mission briefing.

Back on Malta, Kira was heading out of the hotel with her entourage as the coach arrived to take her on her tour of the island. She had paid for a tour in one of the traditional tour busses that had been on the island for many years. She loved going to new places and seeing the history, culture and scenery of a new city, and had heard that on Malta, the only way to get the real experience was to take one of these tours. The rest of her entourage were getting ready to take her equipment to the concert venue. As she was about to get on the bus, she was interrupted by a shrill voice calling to her. She turned around.

"Cat?" Kira asked. "What is it?"

"I just realised, I had more stuff in my portfolio I forgot to give you." She told her.

"Cat, I've seen plenty, I've already picked four or five of your designs." Kira reminded her. "Now, I've got a couple of hours before sound checks and..."

"But...I...um..." Cat continued as she started to rifle through an armful of papers. "I think you'd really like this one, or..."

A bunch of papers fell to the ground. Kira bent down to help Cat pick them up, but as she did so, she could see the young girl eyeing up the coach. She smiled a little.

"Um...this design...no...wait...that isn't the one...oh, where is it...?"

"Cat, do you want to come on the tour with me?" Kira asked. Cat just looked to the coach and then to Kira.

"Is that thing safe?" She asked. Kira just shrugged.

"Decades of satisfied tourists can't be wrong." Kira replied. "It's got suspension like a brick, and no air-con, but apparently there's no better way to see Malta."

Cat just looked to Kira, who just nodded.

"YAY!" She screamed as she threw her arms around her, hugging the singer tightly, before bounding onto the coach. Kira just laughed at the display, before following her on.

"Better make that two tickets." She told the coach driver as she climbed aboard. The coach pulled away, making its way down a path, kicking up some dust which caught the Rangers as they came up a hill towards the hotel.

"What is it with drivers in this country?" Jake asked, looking after the coach that had just left. They all started to dust themselves off.

"Well, at least we know you didn't talk to this one." Gia replied. "OK Noah, is this the place?"

"It's the best hotel within easy travelling distance of the concert venue, it makes sense that she'd be here." Noah replied as he pulled out his lap top and started working. "Great, I've hooked into their Wi-Fi, this shouldn't take long."

"So...this Kira is a singer?" Orion asked. Gia and Emma just stared at him, before looking at each other.

"OK, now we know this guy's from a different planet." Gia commented. "She's only one of the most downloaded artists of the last decade!"

"Not to mention she's a keen environmentalist." Emma added. "She went Carbo-Negative after her first album was released."

"So...she's famous...and also a Power Ranger?" Orion asked. "How does that work?"

"She wasn't famous WHEN she was a Ranger." Emma told him. "She was still in High School when she was a Ranger. She became a big name in the music industry after her tenure."

"Music...industry?" Orion asked. "Are you saying some people make a living out of being musicians?"

"There weren't any professional musicians on Andresia?" Jordan asked him. Orion just shook his head.

"We had musicians; people would play instruments or sing at festivals and in taverns, but no one made a CAREER out of it." He commented. "Where does the money come from?"

"Well...people pay to hear musicians here." Emma told him.

"Wait, musicians CHARGE people to listen to music?" Orion asked her. "But...people make music because it's fun! It's great to dance to!"

"People record music here, so that people can listen to it whenever they want. They don't just listen to it at venues." Noah explained. Orion just looked confused.

Emma just sighed and pulled out her I-pod, figuring it was probably just easier to show Orion what they meant than try to explain it. She placed the head phones in his ears, and handed him the I-pod, starting up her Kira song-list. Orion looked a little confused at first as he heard the music begin, but quickly found himself starting to enjoy it and bob his head. Before anyone could stop him, he started to dance in the middle of the street.

Jake just scrunched up his face.

"So...do you think it's all Andresians that have no rhythm, or just him?" He asked. The others just stared at him. Jake really had no right to question ANYONE else about their ability to dance.

"OK, here it is...I've...got it!" Noah stated. "I'm in the hotel's registration system, and...I've got her!"

"Are you sure?" Gia asked, coming over. "I mean, she will have security measures and..."

"Well, there's an Emma Lahana checked into the Penthouse suite." Noah commented. Gia backed off a little, covering her face to stop her screaming. Jordan just looked a little unimpressed.

"So?" He asked.

"Her mother's maiden name was Emma Lahana." Gia said, glowing a little red as she mentioned this. Emma just giggled seeing her friend so sheepish.

"I told you she was a fangirl." Emma answered. "She'll probably need to be sedated when she meets her."

"I don't look like such a nerd now do I?" Noah whispered to Jake. Gia overheard him though and threw him a death-glare. Noah just put his laptop away and looked to the building. "So...any thoughts how we get to her?"

"The Penthouse is on the top level right?" Gia asked. "I'm guessing they'll probably have some pretty strong security on the elevators and stairs."

"So...maybe we don't use the stairs." Noah said as he pulled out his morpher. He looked for somewhere out of sight, and headed in. There was a flash of light, and then the Blue Wild Force Ranger ran straight for the building, leaping up the side of it, latching onto it with his claws, and scrambling up the wall.

"Well, in the absence of a better plan." Gia replied as she backed up a couple of paces, activating her morpher and turning into the Yellow Wild Force Ranger, before following suit. Jordan just looked around.

"Uh...guys? We're kind of missing a Ranger." He pointed out. They looked around, realising that Orion had somehow gotten lost. Emma just shook her head.

"Jake, see if you can find him. We'll go and see if we can talk to Kira."

As Jordan and Emma both morphed and scaled the building, Jake just threw up his hands.

"Yeah, you all go to the fancy hotel room and talk to the famous singer." He muttered. "Leave me to babysit the new guy! Of course that's fair! Orion! Where the hell are you?"

Elsewhere on the island, Skeltox arrived, his weapon slung over his shoulder. Those that saw him immediately started running away, but on the port, there were more than a few people so engrossed in fishing that they were oblivious to his arrival. Skeltox started to make his way towards the shore, gripping his fishing rod in his hands.

"How are they biting?" He asked. One of the fishermen stirred a little in his seat. By the looks of things he had dozed off.

"They're not." He muttered. "I'm starting to think they might be right about those fishing quotas."

"You look pretty beat." Skeltox commented. "You look like you could use more rest!"

With that, he cast his hook, ripping out the man's spirit. He slumped back down onto his deck chair, and fell into a deep sleep. Skeltox looked along the shore and smirked, seeing all the people who hadn't yet seen him.

"The catch looks pretty good today." He commented as he straightened up the fisherman's hat. "I always say it's best to let the catch come to you."

In the hotel, Gia and the others had managed to get into the Penthouse suite, and were taking a look around. As Noah came back in from one of the other rooms, he shrugged.

"It looks like she isn't here." He told her. "Her stuff's here, but she isn't."

"It's way too early for the concert." Emma added as she checked out one of the other rooms. "She can't have gone to the concert venue yet."

"Are we even sure she's here?" Jordan asked. Emma just held up a handful of autographed 8' 10" glossy pictures.

"Uh...I'm going to go ahead and say yes." She replied. "Either that or she's got a stalker with a bank balance."

"We just broke into her hotel room." Jordan reminded them. "I don't think we can call anyone a stalker."

"Hey, check this out." Noah commented as he picked up a drawing. It was a picture of the skyline from the balcony, but with more than a few notable differences. Mainly, the picture had archers on the walls, and a dragon spitting fire into the city in the sky. "It's...it's that view."

"Wow, this is incredible." Emma commented. "I knew Kira was a singer, but I never knew she was an artist too."

"It's news to me too." Gia said as she took the picture from Noah and inspected it. She couldn't help feeling like there was something familiar about the artwork, something...something that stirred inside her, something in her heart.

"What is it?" Emma asked her. Gia just smiled.

"It's just...this picture." Gia told her. "Cat always loved dragons. She really wanted to come here in our gap year because a lot of Game of Thrones is shot here. I did too."

"I'm guessing you probably weren't planning on having a room like this." Jordan commented. Gia just shook her head.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked. Gia just put the picture down.

"I'll be fine." She told them. "So, if Kira's not here..."

Just then, their morphers bleeped. She pulled it out, flipping it open.

"You're go for Gia." She stated.

"Rangers, there's an attack on the coastline; Vrak's sent a monster to the island!" Tenou told them. "You have to hurry!"

"We're on our way." Gia responded, looking to the others. "Guys, we have to go, Vrak's decided to crash the party."

"What about Kira?" Noah asked. Gia just looked to the room, before throwing the picture onto the bed.

"I guess we have to hope we have time to come back." She responded as they headed for the balcony, morphing as they went.


	4. Ranger Fusion

Jake ran around the streets of Malta, his frustration growing as he looked for the Silver Ranger. He had to admit becoming more than a little frustrated with Orion lately. There was a time, he was just unhappy that the new guy on the team was getting more attention than him. Jake was more than aware of some of his less admirable traits, and one of them was that he was something of an attention seeker. He always felt nervous and uncertain of himself whenever people weren't constantly paying attention to him, like if they didn't notice him, then they would end up forgetting about him altogether. It was one of the reasons he was such an outgoing and extraverted person. He craved that attention.

It was both a good and a bad thing at times. He usually could get people to laugh and could raise people's spirits. His constant joking around, dancing, making light of any situation...it was a good thing for team morale. When Gia was at her lowest ebb after her break-up with Cat, he was the first one to get her to laugh. When Noah's cannon had blown up, almost taking out the team, he was the one that convinced Noah to try again by reminding him of all the great things he had managed to do, including repairing the Red Galleon after the Wild Zords disabled it. However, if he couldn't get the attention for fun things, sometimes he got it other ways.

While he no longer had the same problems he once did with his temper, when he got frustrated, he made sure everyone knew about it. There had been a lot to be frustrated about lately. For one thing, it seemed like for months they hadn't been making much progress in their quest to get the Ranger Keys...and once they had them...they still weren't even sure what they were meant to do with them! Gosei was still being very elusive about his overall plan, keeping all of them, even his son Jordan in the dark.

Troy's injury had been a huge blow to the team. He knew that Gia was more than up to the task of leading the team, and as a fighter, Jordan was a fair substitute for the Red Ranger, but his absence left something of a void in the team. Something that no one could really explain, that was difficult to put into words. He had been the centre of the team for so long that without him, it just always like there was something missing.

Finally, there was Orion. Jake had accepted him on the team, he was able to ignore his eccentricities and had even come to respect him as a fighter...and had even accepted the fact that Orion at times exceeded him in some of the more physical aspects, the area he had always prided himself on being the strongest in. The one thing that Jake had always been confident about with Orion was his commitment to destroying The Armada, wiping them from the galaxy for what they had done to Andresia. Unfortunately, now that Orion had somehow decided that Argus was at one time a friend, and had refused to destroy him, taking out one of the Rangers' most dangerous foes, he couldn't help wondering how far that would extend. After all, he could understand the desire to help a friend if he could, but if he had to make a choice, if it was down to risking Argus destroying the team, or taking him out...where would Orion's loyalty really lie?

He eventually found the Silver Ranger as he ended up in the middle of a street, still bopping away.

"Orion!" Jake called out, trying to get his attention. He reached forward, grabbing him. "ORION!"

"This Kira's really great!" He commented as he pulled out the ear buds. He looked around, realising that they were now nowhere near the hotel. "Oh...sorry, I guess...I guess I got a little carried away."

"Maybe you should cut down on the mushrooms." Jake snorted in response. As they looked around though, they noticed something more than a little odd. There were people all around, not too unusual in and of itself, but they weren't going anywhere. They weren't eating or walking around...they were sleeping.

"OK, something weird is going on." Jake said as he approached someone at a nearby cafe who had slumped forward into his lunch. "Sir, are you alright?"

"Emma said it wasn't uncommon for people to sleep around midday in this part of the world." Orion commented. Jake just looked at him.

"Yeah...to get out of the sun!" Jake reminded him. "Generally, they don't just lie down in the middle of the street and take a nap!"

Orion had to concede the point. He wasn't too knowledgeable about Earth cultures, and hadn't realised that the point of a siesta was to escape the sun at the hottest part of the day. Sleeping in the middle of the street would somewhat defeat the entire point. Jake shook a couple of the patrons.

"OK, I don't know what's going on, all I know is that it's not natural." Jake told him. "Nothing I do is waking these people up!"

Just then, they saw a young woman coming out of a store, carrying some bags. As she did, a beam of energy that looked suspiciously like a fishing line flew from above, slamming into her. They could only watch as a moment later, it was pulled out, pulling out an energy aura. Orion caught her as she started to fall to the ground.

"Hey, are you OK?" He asked. He didn't get an answer. "She's out!"

"Up there!" Jake announced as he pointed upwards. Orion could see the energy aura shooting up the side of a building, to where Skeltox was standing on a rooftop. He started cackling gleefully and dancing.

"They're really biting today!" He giggled, looking to the contingent of X-borgs that had been sent down with him. "The more energy I steal, the stronger I become!"

Just then, their morphers bleeped.

"Jake, have you found Orion?" Gia asked. "There's something weird going on, people are..."

"Falling asleep all over the island?" He asked. "Yeah, we found the guy that's doing it. Some skeleton monster with a fishing rod is pulling out people's energy or something and sending them to sleep. Home in on our signal, we'll start without you!"

As he hung up, he and Orion started sprinting towards the building, morphing as they went, pulling out their grappling hooks.

On another part of the island, Gia hung up her morpher, and looked to the others.

"A monster is pulling out people's energy and sending them to sleep?" Jordan asked. "Didn't we deal with a monster that did the exact same thing like last year?"

"Well, technically dream snatcher was stealing people's dreams." Emma reminded him. "But the plan is kind of similar."

"I guess originality isn't one of Vekar's strong suits." Noah said with a shrug. "From observation, it doesn't look like Vrak and Vekar are exactly close. It's not surprising he didn't know everything Vrak had already tried."

"Is that really the important thing right now?" Gia asked. "Come on, let's give that monster a serious wake-up call!"

As they ran down the road, morphing on their way, they ran past a coach coming the other direction. Everyone on the bus leapt to the windows, seeing the Rangers and started taking photos.

Cat was knocked from her seat, ending up on the floor, crushed beneath some guy that was desperate to get pictures. Kira couldn't help looking around and snapping some pictures with her phone, smiling as she did so.

"Dr. O is going to completely flip when I send him these pictures!" She commented. As she looked down, while the other passengers started to make their way back to their seats, she realised Cat was now in the foot well. "Cat, are you alright?"

"Wow, the tourists are really enthusiastic around here." She muttered as she got up, starting to dust herself off. She frowned as she saw footprints on her blouse. "Aw man, I just got this!"

"Well, I guess you can't be too surprised people were excited." Kira told her. "You'll never guess who just ran past the bus."

"Usain Bolt?" She asked.

"The Power Rangers!" Kira told her.

"Really?" Cat screamed as she ran to the rear of the coach. Unfortunately, by the time she got there, the Rangers were gone. She just sighed as her heart sank. Kira came up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry about that." Kira told her. "I...I guess these pictures will have to do."

"I guess so." Cat said sadly as she went with Kira back towards their seats. Kira just looked to her.

"Say, you're from Harwood right?" She asked. "Didn't you ever see them there?"

"A few times." Cat responded as they sat down, staring out the window. She couldn't deny how she felt when she thought she might get to see Gia, even if it was only a glance. It had been her decision, her idea to lie to Gia, to tell her that she was seeing someone else in the hope that it would make it easier for her to leave. It still pained her to be separated from her. Gia was her first girlfriend. "Well, can I at least see those pictures?"

"Sure thing." Kira answered, handing her the phone.

Back at the site of the battle, Orion and Jake were fighting with the X-borgs sent to protect Skeltox while he looked for more victims. Orion took down a number of them with a huge swipe from his Silver Spear.

"We need to get through these guys!" Orion called out. "You heard him, he gets more powerful the more energy he steals! We need to..."

"Gahhhhh!" Jake called out, interrupting him. Orion looked around in time to see half a dozen X-borgs carrying him towards the edge of the rooftop.

"Jake!" He called out.

"Let me go, put me down!" Jake complained. He looked across to see the edge of the rooftop. "No, no wait, don't let me goooooooooo!"

Orion looked to where Skeltox was still snatching up energy, and paused for a moment to think. He knew he needed to destroy Skeltox, to stop him causing any more suffering, but as he saw Jake disappearing over the edge, he immediately turned and ran after him. He broke into a run and leapt over the edge. Other X-borgs had gone over, presumably to finish Jake off while he was vulnerable.

Taking down one of the X-borgs that was about to strike him, Orion renewed his assault on the ground.

"Orion, I had that!" Jake told him. "That monster..."

"We can go back for him!" Orion yelled as he fought with the robots. Gia and the others arrived, all morphed and ready for action. Jordan helped Jake to his feet.

"Where's the monster?" Gia asked.

"He's up there." Jake told them. "I...had a little setback."

"There are too many of these guys down here!" Gia stated. "Let's thin out their numbers quickly."

"You want to do this quick?" Jordan asked, pulling a Ranger key out of his belt buckle. "I know just the team!"

"I think we all do." Gia responded as they all took up their RPM keys.

"RPM, Get in Gear!" They all called out together. Orion watched as they all surged through the X-bots, smashing them down with their Nitro Swords. He just smiled seeing this. Now the whole team was here, he was sure they would be able to get through to the monster. He reached to his own belt buckle as a Ranger Key appeared.

"Now I want to get in on some of this action!" He declared, looking to the RPM Silver Ranger key. Before he could activate it though, he realised that another key was appearing. He took it, seeing that it was much like the Silver Ranger key, but this one was gold. He didn't know much about the Earth Ranger teams, but seeing the two keys, he realised that the RPM team didn't have six Rangers, they had seven! It hadn't occurred to him that the belt buckle wouldn't know which Ranger key he wanted when he summoned the sixth RPM Ranger key.

"Orion, what are you doing?" Jordan asked.

"I...um..." He started to stammer.

"Orion, are you part of this team or what?" Gia asked. "We could do with a hand!"

Orion just stared at the two keys, trying to think of what to do. He had a deep connection to the Sixth Ranger keys, and he knew a lot about them by comparison to the other Rangers. RPM Gold and RPM Silver, twins named Gem and Gemma, he had been told in his visions, both had pretty much the same powers. They had access to the same weapons, both were powerful warriors...did it matter which he chose? Either one would give him the power he needed.

But as he stared at them, he found himself unable to make a decision. It wasn't because he couldn't see a practical reason to chose between them, but something spoke to him, something...that seemed to indicate that it wasn't a mistake he now held both keys.

He found himself blinded by a white light, and entered one of his visions. He looked around, completely confused.

"Whoa...maybe Jake has a point." Orion commented. "Maybe I need to lay off the tea."

Just then, he saw two figures approaching him. It was the RPM Gold and Silver Rangers. They stopped before him as he stared at them.

"Gem, Gemma?" He asked. "What's going on? What am I doing here?"

"You needed to come here..."

"...To realise what you're meant to do." Gemma concluded. Orion just looked to both of them.

"But...I need to make a choice!" He told them.

"Why do you..."

"...Need to make a choice?" Gem finished Gemma's question. "We were always..."

"...more awesome together than apart!" Gemma continued.

"But...I'm only one person!" He stated.

"We were never apart." Gem told him.

"We always were together." Gemma agreed.

"Why should our Ranger Keys be any different?" Gem asked as they clasped hands.

"Go kick some butt!" Gemma yelled.

"It's boom time!" They declared together. Orion found himself back on the battlefield, only now, he had only one key in his hand.

"Orion, stop messing around!" Noah called to him.

"Yeah, that bag of bones is coming down here now!" Emma told him.

"Hurry up and morph already!" Jordan called out. Orion loaded the new key into his morpher, and activated it. The Rangers all stopped as they saw a flash of light, far brighter than they were used to during a Legendary Mode morph. They all stopped and stared his way.

"Huh?" Gia asked as the light started to dissipate.

"What?" Jake asked in a note of disbelief and exasperation.

"That's...that's impossible!" Noah stammered. They all stared in disbelief as standing before them was a new Ranger. The right half of Orion's costume was the RPM Gold Ranger, while the left half was modelled after the RPM Silver Ranger. On each side of his belt, he had a sheath, each carrying a Cloud Hatchet.

"Nice!" Jordan complimented him. "He fused two Rangers!"

"He actually did it!" Emma stated. "He fused RPM Silver and Gold Rangers together!"

"And it's more than just an impressive costume!" Orion told them, feeling incredible power rushing through him, even more than he was used to in Legendary Mode. "I have all the power of two Rangers, RPM Gold, and RPM Silver!"

He pulled out the Cloud Hatchets, preparing them for action.

"Jet mode, blast off!" He yelled as the jets fired up. He soared straight through the assembled group, at which the other Rangers just got out of the way, allowing him to cut them all down. Jake tripped over a downed X-borg as he scrambled to get out the way.

"Oh, come on!" He muttered. "Now he gets all the cool toys too?"

As he finished off the X-borgs, Orion rounded on Skeltox, and leapt into action, twirling in the air.

"You're really strong!" Skeltox commented. "But I'll bet beneath that suit you're nothing!"

"That suit's made him unstoppable!" Noah commented.

"Yeah, he's incredible, look at him go!" Emma stated.

"He's a great addition to the team!" Jordan said, resting his Nitro Sword across his shoulders. "Now I don't feel quite so bad about him getting my Silver Morpher!"

"Great, Mr Impressive just got more impressive. It's probably just the suit." Jake grumbled. "I bet I'd be all flashy and impressive if I had all the cool toys!"

Just then, Skeltox managed to catch Orion off-guard, throwing him off him. He could tell that he was struggling, and needed to get away to get some more power. He saw the other Rangers were busy watching Orion and levelled his blaster at them.

"Smell ya later!" He taunted them as he fired. The Rangers all scattered, but Jake was still sitting on the ground. Emma saw this and ran over.

"Jake, look out!" She screamed as she threw herself into harm's way. Jake could only watch as she took the shot that was meant for him, sprawling her across the ground.

"Emma, are you alright?" He asked as he tried to help her up and the others came over. "I'm sorry, I froze up!"

"It's true what they say!" Skeltox said as he brought back his fishing rod. "There's plenty more fish in the sea!"

With that, he cast out his energy beams, catching Jordan, Gia, Noah and Emma in the back. With a quick tug, he had pulled out their energy, causing them to fall to the ground unconscious.

"NO!" Orion screamed as he attacked him. "What have you done to them?"

"The same thing I'm going to do to everyone!" He answered. "Time to go fishing for more humans!"

With that, he disappeared. Orion de-morphed and made his way back to the others, finding Jake already over them trying to rouse them.

"He escaped, we need to get them back to the Red Galleon." Orion told him. He could see Jake just desperately trying to shake them awake. "Jake, JAKE!"

Jake just stared at him blankly.

"There's nothing we can do for them here!" Orion told him. "We need to get them back to the Red Galleon, now!"

As Orion called Tensou to bring the ship closer, Jake could only stare at them. Orion wasn't the one that screwed up, he was. He just wordlessly started to pick Emma up off the ground as Orion gathered up Jordan.


	5. Survivor Guilt

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Lavira was in her lab, working on repairs to Argus. Although he had come out of his battle with the Rangers having done more damage to them than they had to him, he had sustained a fair amount of damage. It was sheer luck that the Silver Ranger hadn't destroyed him when he had the chance.

Lavira had created Argus at Damaras' suggestion a long time ago, creating a personal bodyguard for the Prince, creating one of the most powerful warriors she ever had. He was a huge asset, one that had been a deciding factor in many battles for The Armada over the years. The Prince was so impressed by his success that he'd had Argus re-assigned as his personal bodyguard. He was always emboldened by Argus' presence, confident that no one would get near him with such a powerful warrior at his side. He was reluctant to send him on missions if he could help it, preferring to keep Argus in reserves for when he felt the need to go into the field himself.

Lavira checked her computers for the progress. Argus was currently at around 73 percent of his normal functions. It wouldn't take too much longer to bring him back to full function and be able to return him to his position at Prince Vekar's side. She breathed a sigh of relief at that. She knew that the Prince wasn't happy that his bodyguard was out of action, but when she had pleaded with him that she had only sent him after the Rangers to avenge his injury, he had opted not to pursue the matter further, telling her that as long as he got Argus back, that was the main thing.

She got an alert from the scanners covering the Earth, and turned on a monitor. She found it curious she was getting anything right now. Damaras' lack of activity had been something of a constant complaint for her for a long time. It was one of the reasons that she had started to suspect that Damaras was not as dedicated to the cause as Prince Vekar believed. He had been left in control of the ship, and the campaign for months now, a position he had been in before, and yet unlike the numerous other worlds he had brought to heel for the Royal Family in mere weeks, this time it was like he was making no effort to advance the war at all. When on other occasions he had taken Vekar's lack of interference as a good thing and actually accomplished things, now he seemed to just...hang back.

She turned on the monitor, finding the alert coming from somewhere in Europe, zooming in, she found that it was on the island of Malta. She brought up a more detailed image, finding the streets littered with people sleeping.

"What's this?" She asked, scrolling through all the images she could find. Street by street, everywhere she looked, all she could find was people lying, sometimes in the middle of the street, sometimes in fields...but all of them were unconscious. It didn't take her keen intellect to realise that this was not a natural phenomenon.

As she continued, she finally found some activity. Some X-borgs wandered through the streets, in the middle of them though...she could see an odd creature. She didn't recognise him at first, and had to zoom in. She could see that it was, indeed, a Commander.

"Damaras has sent a Commander to Earth?" She asked herself. She did a quick scan, knowing that she would find that he was the one that had caused this strange turn of events. The results came back, and she got the identity of the Commander. "Skeltox?"

It had been a long time since she had seen or heard from Skeltox. She knew he used to be a big deal back in the day, laying waste to battlefields and worlds with ease, but she hadn't heard of him for so long that she had to admit not really knowing he still WAS part of the army. She presumed he had been destroyed or retired somewhere a long time ago. She watched as he cast out a few more energy lines, rendering some more unfortunate victims unconscious.

"What are you up to Damaras?" She asked. She got up from her chair, heading for the door. She didn't notice a small jerk from Argus in his chair as his brain waves spiked, thrashing a little in his restraints, before suddenly falling silent once more.

On the Red Galleon, Jake and Orion had managed to get the others back to the infirmary. Tensou was doing everything he could to try and rouse them, but so far nothing, not even low-level electric shocks had seemed to have any effect. Jake was standing around, feeling ill to his stomach as he looked over them. To all intents and purposes, it looked like they were sleeping peacefully, and while it had been joked that Gia could sleep through a nuclear bomb, it was clearly not natural.

"It's no good, nothing works." Tensou told them. "Their metabolism, their heart rates...everything is at a bare minimum. Their vitals barely even register."

"So...it's more like a coma?" Orion asked. "There were some pretty bad accidents in the mines back home. One of my best friends took a rock to the head when we were just starting out. It was a couple of weeks before he woke up."

"It has some factors in common with a Coma, but it's not quite like that." Tensou told them. "That monster, Skeltox, it's like he pulled the life literally right out of them."

"How long can they stay like this?" Orion asked. "I mean...if they have no energy, how long...?"

"I don't know, I'll do everything I can." Tensou told them. "But the one thing that is clear is that if they can't be woken, if they continue to lose energy, then eventually their organs will stop working."

"This is all my fault." Jake declared.

"What?" Orion asked. He had been there, he had seen what had happened. He knew that Jake was prone when Skeltox had attacked the others. He was on the ground. He couldn't get out of the way in time.

"They got hit because they were trying to protect me." Jake stated dejectedly.

"No, it was an accident." Orion told him. Jake looked up to him. He could see that Orion was just trying to make him feel better, taking pity on him. It was the last thing he wanted to hear, it was the last thing he needed.

"Well that's easy for you to say! Everything you touch turns to gold! Or Silver!" Jake said petulantly. Orion just stood, a little stunned by Jake's words. It wasn't as though he wasn't aware of Jake's feelings. They had already talked about how Jake was used to being the centre of attention, how he was used to being the physically strongest...Orion had been aware that there was something of a competition between them. They were both naturally quite competitive, and had indeed turned it into something positive, pushing each other to up their game.

Orion also knew that a lot had changed following their battle with Argus. Jake had called him out on the fact that Orion had a chance to destroy one of their most powerful opponents, that he had a chance to take a dangerous weapon out of the equation for good, and yet he had let him get away. He could understand Jake's confusion, and Gia had explained in no uncertain terms that he had to be ready in case they couldn't save Marv, but Jake had seemed to retain some of that resentment.

"They ended up like this because of me, and now it's up to me to make it right!" Jake announced as he started to head outside.

"Jake, no!" Tensou screeched, looking to Orion. "Orion, do something!"

Orion finally shook himself out of it and followed Jake outside. He found the Green Ranger getting ready to leave the ship.

"Jake, stop, it's not your fault!" Orion called out to him. "Jake, I know how you feel!"

"No you don't!" Jake answered.

"Hey, I carry that burden all the time!" Orion reminded him.

"It's not the same!" Jake snapped at him. "You were a civilian, you didn't have any powers! When The Armada showed up on Andresia, what were you meant to do? Throw rocks at them? There was nothing you could have done!"

"I wasn't talking about Andresia!" Orion told him. "When Lafitte double-crossed us, Marv set off a grenade. It shook up everyone pretty bad, but he was badly hurt. He told me to go on without him."

Jake just looked to him as he recalled the incident.

"He was in a pretty bad way, he was bleeding out, he was ripped open...I was sure he wasn't going to make it!" Orion explained as he got Jake to see the situation. "Now I find out that because I left him there, because I just assumed he was done for, he's been turned into some...some puppet that Vekar uses to do his bidding! That's all on me!"

Jake didn't know how to answer that. He had called Orion on the fact that he hadn't destroyed Argus, but the thing that he had lost in the whole situation was that he and Marv were friends. Marv was perhaps the only friend Orion had after Andresia fell.

"The reason I'm alive today is because Marv did that. If anyone knows what it's like to feel guilty about surviving it's me." Orion told him. "I can't do anything for the people of Andresia, it's too late for them..."

"But I can still help the Rangers." Jake answered.

"WE can still help the Rangers." Orion corrected him. "I know we come from different places and believe different things, but if there's any such thing as destiny, that's what's brought us together. We're a team!"

"But...I..."

"Jake, if anything, I always felt like you and I were the most alike, that we had the most in common." Orion told him. "In a lot of ways...I kind of think of you as a mentor. You're the one I look to when I don't quite get things here on Earth."

"I am?" Jake asked. "But...I've been a jerk to you."

"Yeah, you kind of have." Orion stated. "But...I guess I haven't always been the easiest student either."

Jake thought about it for a while. He still felt guilty, there was nothing that Orion could say that would take away from him the fact that he had taken his eye off the ball, because he was jealous of Orion and had pouted in the middle of a battle, his friends had to bail him out at a cost of their own safety. However, he now figured that he could either mope about his failure, or do something to help.

"I guess it wouldn't be the first time I had to swallow my pride." Jake told him. "If you're willing to work with me to get the others back, I guess we're a team, kind of like your fused Rangers."

As they clasped hands, Jake suddenly stopped.

"Wait...Orion...I think I have an idea." Jake told him.

"Elsewhere on Malta, Kira and Cat got back to the hotel, the tour having been cut short. Just like everywhere else on Earth, it wasn't as though the authorities relished the thought of putting the populace at risk if they didn't have to. Like most places, they went into lockdown when they were under attack, encouraging all those that hadn't been affected already to get indoors and try to avoid there being any more casualties.

Kira had the television on the news channel, hoping for any updates. Her concert had, for obvious safety reasons, been postponed, but Kira knew from her own experiences, it was always best to keep track of the news for any updates. After all, the difference between being on lockdown, and having to prepare for an evacuation could be only a few minutes.

"So is there any news?" Cat asked. Kara just shook her head.

"Nothing new." Kira told her. "They're telling everyone to stay inside, they don't know when, or even if the Rangers are coming back."

"How can they say that?" Cat asked her. "The Rangers always come back."

"Apparently the first time around they took quite a beating." Kira told her. "According to this footage, some of them were taken out by the monster."

"Really?" Cat asked, rushing towards the TV, almost bowling over Kira as she went. "Which ones? Who did he get?"

"Uh...I think I can find out." Kira told her. As she scrolled through all the bulletins, they finally came across the footage from the attack. "Here it is...oh, that's not good. Four of them were hit..."

She heard a screech, and turned to see Cat hiding behind her hands. It wasn't long before she heard some sobbing. Kira made her way over to comfort her, but as soon as Cat felt someone nearby, she pulled into a tight hug, holding Kira tightly. The former Ranger felt more than a little awkward.

"Um...OK." She responded. "Cat, it's alright, the Rangers..."

She turned in time to see the names and file pictures flashed on the screen. The media now knew that the Yellow, Red, Blue and Pink Rangers were out of action, and had pulled up their files. She saw the pictures, and read the names on the files on the screen. Troy Burrows, Noah Carver, Emma Goodall and Gia Moran.

"Gia..." Kira said quietly, thinking about something that Cat had said to her. She couldn't believe it had never occurred to her before now. Cat told her that her first girlfriend was from Harwood, she told her that she had been in High School there when the Megaforce team got together. It was only now that she really paid much attention to the name. She looked to Cat. "Cat...is...Is Gia...?"

Cat just nodded, her face buried in Kira's shoulder. She held her tightly.

"I'm sorry." She responded. "I'm so..."

Suddenly, she heard something else. Cat had stopped sobbing, now she was...snoring. She struggled to hold her up as Cat started to slump towards the floor. She looked up to see Skeltox standing on top of a nearby building. She just groaned as she tried to let Cat down gently, seeing him wind up for an attack. She couldn't find somewhere soft to lay her down before Skeltox's energy line struck her. She could feel all the energy leaving her as the ground rushed up to meet her.


	6. Jakes Idea

Lavira made her way towards the Prince's quarters, moving quickly. As she got there though, she found Damaras coming out of his room, the Prince a little way after him, carrying a couple of glasses. She felt some bile rising up in her throat as she realised that they were laughing.

"Yes, I just wanted to tell you about that new plan of mine." Damaras told him. "I hope you can forgive my earlier intrusion..."

"Please, it's all but forgotten about." Prince Vekar responded in a laugh. He caught sight of Lavira and coughed a little, before taking another drink. "Um...but what you saw..."

"Strictly between us." Damaras told him, seeing the Prince's embarrassment. He handed the Prince a report. "I just thought after our little misunderstanding..."

"Of course I don't care about that!" Prince Vekar told him. "Four out of six Rangers down already? That's the best news I've heard in ages! Where did you find...?"

"Skeltox?" Damaras asked him. "Believe it or not, I found him in the drinking hall fleecing the other Commanders in gambling games. He used to be a huge name back in his day...until he ran up against that big guy with the sword and the tiger...then he kind of fell apart."*

"I forgot he was even still on the ship." Vrak chuckled. "I think everyone did. I remember the havoc he used to wreak for my father. As a child, I remember being terrified of him."

"Well now, he gets to bring that fear to the Earth." Damaras told him.

"Lavira!" Vekar declared, pretending to only just notice her arrival. "I suppose you're here to give me some more good news! Is it about Argus? Is he..."

"Yes...I wanted to update you on his progress." Lavira stammered out, realising that now Damaras had spoken to the Prince and gotten his approval for the attack...and somehow even manoeuvred it into something as civil as drinks in the Prince's private quarters, her window of opportunity to throw Damaras' motives into doubt had passed. Clearly it was his plan all along. "His...his chassis repairs are coming along well, and his programming has been almost completely rebuilt...he is already at 79 percent."

"79?" The Prince asked. "Well...I guess it can't all be good news. At least we have Damaras' success to celebrate."

She felt her temper rising as Damaras gave a small bow in acceptance of this accolade. The Prince just headed back into his room.

"Keep me updated." He told them. "It's almost a shame I won't get to finish the Rangers myself...but as long as they're gone, that's all that matters. Bring me updates!"

As he closed the door, Damaras made his way over to Lavira. He just stood over her.

"Not what you were expecting when you came here?" He asked her. Lavira just glared at him.

"You may have talked Vekar round, but you can't fool me." Lavira told him. "You do nothing for months, then make more progress in one day than you have in the previous year? I know you're up to something!"

"Well, you know what they say about knowledge without evidence don't you?" Damaras taunted her, shoving the glass into her hand. "Here, you look like you need this more than I do. After all, you're the only one currently in the failure column in the Prince's eyes."

As he left, Lavira just growled in frustration. Damaras was right on that part. Right now, he was on the verge of delivering the Rangers to the Prince on a plate, while she was still the one that had almost written off his most powerful toy! She made her way back to the lab, but when she got there, she found Argus jerking around slightly on his seat. She went to her computer, setting down her drink, and starting to work on the computer.

"What's going on?" She asked. "Computer, analyse Argus for malfunctions."

"Severe electrical impulse misfires." The computer stated.

"Locate the source of the misfire." Lavira told her.

"Misfire is centred in Argus' Hippocampus." The computer informed her, showing a display of Argus' brain activity. Lavira just frowned.

"He's...he's dreaming?" She asked, looking to the cyborg. It was something unprecedented, something that she hadn't ever considered. It was something that had never happened in any of her creations before. While she had curtailed, and even removed some parts of the brain that weren't vitally important, there was only so much she could take away before she risked it not working. Unlike the rest of the body, most of which she could create mechanical replacements for, and had done for many warriors that had been injured in The Armada's campaign, the brain was mostly interconnected, and there were many seemingly useless parts that if harmed or removed would quickly lead to the patient's brain ceasing to function and simply dying. Since one of the main reasons for converting Marv into this form was to retain his skills and turn them into a useful weapon, that was one thing she couldn't risk.

"Access the impulses." She told the computer. "Put the images up on screen."

She watched as the computer brought up some images from deep inside Argus' subconscious. She was more than a little confused about what she saw. She saw Lafitte...that she was expecting. She even expected to see the Silver Ranger in the days he had fought with him. But some other images she didn't really understand.

"The slave markets?" She asked. "Why would he be thinking about the slave markets?"

She saw some images of Lafitte there, receiving money, and handing over...something. Presumably the location of a drop-off. She just snorted.

"Residual guilt...it seems Lafitte dealt in more than just stolen trinkets." Lavira stated, leaning back and thinking about her options. She didn't want to remove anything, she was reluctant to do anything that could affect the skills Argus had, but she knew that any sign of his mind demonstrating anything other than normal or predictable behaviour was a dangerous sign. She considered her options, and remembered that there were certain neurotransmitters that limited dream activity, that were all but absent in the dream state. She pulled up the blueprints for an implant she had worked on before, and started to think of how she could adapt it to curtail these troublesome dreams.

Back on the Earth, Orion and Jake headed into the centre of the city, searching for Skeltox. By now, they doubted it would be too hard to find him. Those that hadn't already been caught up in his spell were in hiding, meaning that the streets were mercifully clear. As they got close to the centre of the island, they saw some X-borgs and Bruisers waiting for them.

"They're setting up some kind of perimeter." Orion stated. "I saw it before with Armada treasuries back in the day."

"What are they protecting?" Jake asked.

"Rangers!" One of the Bruisers called out as it saw them. "We must protect Commander Skeltox!"

"OK, that answers that question." Jake responded.

"Why protect him if he's gathered energy to make himself more powerful?" Orion asked.

"I know after a huge pig out I like a little nap." Jake told him. "Come on, if these guys are the bodyguards, let's deal with them quickly."

They both morphed as they ran towards the X-borgs, cutting through them in short order. There were a lot more than they had bargained for, and the streets were quickly flooded.

"This is a workout alright!" Jake commented as he blasted down some of the X-borgs. "So you fought through perimeters like this back in the day?"

"We tended to prefer to go around them if we could." Orion told him with a smile as he rammed his spear through a couple of robots, turning them into scrap. "But this is a good approach too. We needed to get rid of the bodyguards before we could take Skeltox anyway."

"We're nearly there!" Jake told him, pulling out a Ranger Key. Orion was about to do the same, but Jake just shook his head. "Leave this one to me."

"Jake..."

"Trust me!" Jake implored him. Orion just nodded, remaining in his own mode, suit, while Jake adopted the Green RPM Ranger form. He hefted his Turbo Axe over his shoulder. "Alright, here we go!"

Orion just watched, and smiled as Jake immediately teleported, ending up behind the nearest couple of robots, slicing them in half. The then teleported again, smashing some more...and again...and again! The robots had no idea where he was going to end up, and had no way to defend themselves. Eventually, he ended up beside Orion, powering down out of Legendary Mode as the last few robots exploded. He doubled over, trying to catch his breath.

"For what it's worth...I do NOT recommend doing that too often!" He commented. "I think I left my spleen somewhere behind that olive tree."

"You did great Jake." Orion told him. "Now all we need to do is find..."

They heard some cackling coming from nearby and looked to each other.

"A cackling evil skeleton?" Jake asked. "Really?"

"At least we know where he is." Orion stated as they ran off in search of Skeltox. As they found him, he stood before them, staring them down.

"I have to commend you for coming back." Skeltox told them. "If six of you couldn't beat me, what do you think two of you are going to accomplish?"

"You've caused enough harm here Skeltox!" Jake declared. "Give everyone back their energy, or we'll take you out!"

"Please, there are only two of you!" He laughed. "And with all the energy I've taken, I'm more than a match for you!"

"Well, we'll just see about that! Jake told him. He looked to Orion. "Orion, this is it, you're the key to everything. I'll buy you time."

"Time?" Orion asked him. "Time for what?"

"I don't get how you did it, but you fused the RPM Gold and Silver keys, and you gained the power of both of them right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I did." Orion told him. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Six of us didn't manage it, but we have more than six Rangers here!" Jake told him. "Try fusing the keys!"

"Which ones?" Orion asked.

"ALL OF THEM!" Jake replied as he rushed at Skeltox. Orion just stood, completely baffled by Jake's idea.

He could understand the thinking behind Jake's plan, but he had no idea if he had considered how practical it was. Even he didn't really understand how the key fusion had worked before, or even if he could do it again.

"Jake, I..."

"I'm buying the time here!" Jake reminded him, grappling with Skeltox, who was trying to bring his weapon to bear on him. "Not to sound like a drama queen, but...could you hurry up about it?"

As he got some space, Jake morphed into the Green Mystic Force Ranger. He looked to Skeltox.

"Well, combining powers seems to be the order of the day here." He stated. "Mystic Muscles!"

He grabbed Skeltox, throwing him into a wall, which caved in under the impact, before a pair of boxing gloves appeared on his hands.

"Mystic Force Fighter!" He added as he combined the power of the gloves with the raw strength of his Mystic Muscle mode, pounding into Skeltox. "Orion, get a move on!"

Orion still wasn't convinced, but he knew that this was probably the best chance they were going to get. Jake had taken Skeltox by surprise, but it wasn't as if he could keep up that pace for long. The extra power of the Legendary Mode wouldn't last forever.

"Alright, I'll try it." Orion said, looking down. His access to the past Sixth Rangers had always taken place in his visions before, so he did what he could, slowing his breath and lowering his heart rate, calling on those that advised him in his visions. "Power of six, activate!"

He held out his hands, as he gathered all sixteen of his Sixth Ranger Keys, holding them before him. As he closed his eyes, he found himself back in the white room. This time, he was surrounded by all the Sixth Rangers. They all looked to him.

"Sixth Rangers, I need your help." Orion told them. "Please, join with me, and help us fight for Earth!"

The Sixth Rangers all looked up towards a bright light, at which Orion found himself back in the real world. He looked down to the ranger Keys in his hands, which were glowing brightly, before they fused into one single key that looked a lot like an anchor. He could already feel the power in it as he held it up.

"Wow, the fusion worked!" He yelled excitedly. "Jake, you were right, it worked!"

Just then, Jake flew past him, hitting the ground hard as his Legendary Mode dissipated. He looked up at Orion.

"Jake, are you...?"

"I'll live." Jake told him. "Orion, if you're going to do this, now's the time! Go show him what sixteen Rangers can do!"

"Corsair Gold!" Orion called out as he slammed his key into the underside of his morpher. Before their eyes, they watched as he was surrounded by large, strong armour, the chest plate and shoulder guards depicted the helmets of the sixteen past Sixth Rangers. His Silver Spear converted into a large bladed weapon much like an anchor. Skeltox just stared at him. He could already feel the power coming from Orion.

"Am I...seeing things?" Skeltox asked.

"Whoa, awesome!" Jake complimented him.

"I don't care what you've done before; I won't let you destroy Earth!" Orion told Skeltox. He ran towards the alien, who opened fire on him, only for the shots to rebound off Orion's armour. He swung his spear around, slicing through him again and again, sending Skeltox to the ground, where he struggled to get up. He looked up at Orion.

"This...this can't be happening!" He screamed. "I'm Skeltox! I was the most evil, despicable warlord on..."

"I don't really care! You wanted this to be finished, and now it is!" Orion called out. "Final Strike, Charge!"

Skeltox could only watch as he powered up his weapon. He could see spirits of the Sixth Rangers being conjured up alongside him as he powered up the attack.

"Oh come on! First that guy with the sword and the tiger, now this?" He screamed. "How is that fair?"

Each of the Sixth Rangers rushed through him, attacking him in turn, before Orion cut him down with only a couple of strikes. Skeltox slumped forward and exploded, heralding the end of his first life. Orion powered down, feeling the exhaustion of his efforts washing over him as the energy of all his Ranger Keys left. He propped himself up on his Silver Spear as Jake was quickly by his side. They watched the energy Skeltox had gathered leaving him, flying all over the island to return to their rightful owners.

"Now that...that was a rush!" Orion told him.

"That was incredible Orion; I knew you could do it!" Jake complimented him. "You rock!"

"Hey, no one Ranger can do this alone right?" Orion asked him. "I think you mean WE rock!"

"Yeah, we really do!" Jake agreed, high-fiving him. They both just looked to each other as they saw a large beam of light hit the ground where Skeltox had fallen.

"They don't believe in giving us time to enjoy these little moments do they?" Orion asked.

"No, they really don't." Jake agreed. "So...what do we do now?"

"We hope the others are quick risers." Orion told him as he brought out the Quantum Ranger key.

**A/N:** Little challenge time! The monster this time around, his name in particular, really reminded me of a series that was a huge hit when I was a kid. Can anyone get the reference marked by the *? No prizes, just bragging rights.


	7. The End of Skeltox

**A/N:** Hey there, thank you to all my readers for your continued support. I just wanted to drop a quick line about the challenge I set. The series I was alluding to was "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe". It was a huge show back in the 80's (almost PR huge!) and in particular the main villain Skeletor. When I heard Skeltox's name I seriously had to re-watch that clip, so many flashbacks! Skeletor was one of my favourite characters as a kid, and a pop culture icon that ironically ended up being more popular than the show's title character! So, I'm giving a quick shout-out to Mrveich, DesbaVsDesba, dguice, Earth Bird and DKnight27 who all guessed correctly. Here's to some great flashbacks from my youth!

In the hotel room, Cat started to stir and come to. She found herself on the floor, entangled in Kira's arms and realised that they had both passed out while Kira was comforting her. She started to get up, disentangling herself from Kira as she did to. The former Yellow Ranger started to rub her eyes.

"Another monster with a fishing rod?" Kira groaned as she started to sit up. Cat held out a hand, offering to help her up. She was positively bouncing with excitement.

"Another?" Cat asked. "Did you get attacked by something like that back in Reefside?"

"Uh...yeah, something like that." Kira responded. She let out a small yelp as she was yanked physically off the ground, and swayed a little as she struggled to get her feet down in time. Cat was surprisingly strong for her size when she was excited. Any of her friends who had 'enjoyed' one of her hugs could attest to that...as could their bruised ribs! "Whoa, Cat, how are you...?"

"Come on Kira, come on!" Cat yelled as she grabbed the TV remote and started scrolling through the channels.

"Uh...Cat, I'm barely awake." Kira told her. "Come to that, so are you? How did you...?"

"Come on, if we're awake, that means the Rangers are winning!" Cat told her. Kira couldn't argue with that logic, she had been in enough battles in her time to know that usually when a monster was defeated, the effects of any of its powers usually dissipated. If she and Cat had woken up, then it was likely that anyone else Skeltox had sent to sleep was waking up too...which would include the Rangers, and in particular, Gia. Suddenly Cat's newfound energy and enthusiasm made a lot of sense. "They're probably about to have a Zord battle!"

"Uh...Cat?"

"Stupid thing, where are all the news crews?" Cat growled as she tried to find a feed with a good view of the battle. "I want to see what's happening!"

"Uh...Cat?" Kira said again, trying to get Cat's attention.

"Dang it, how hard is it to see fifty storey robots in this city?" Cat complained. "Where are...?"

Kira grabbed Cat and turned her around, pointing to the window. Cat could see Skeltox towering over the city as a portal opened up and the Q-Rex drill flew into view.

"The benefit of booking the penthouse suite is having a pretty amazing view." Kira reminded her. Cat just grabbed a chair and pulled it up as close to the window as she could. Kira couldn't help smiling, seeing the sudden lift in Cat's mood. As she watched the battle, her cell phone started to ring.

"Hey." Kira answered as she watched to see the latest team in action. "You're on for Kira."

Elsewhere, on the Red Galleon, Gia was just starting to stir and wake up. She felt someone standing over her, shaking her.

"Gia, come on, get up!" Emma rushed out. Gia just groaned.

"It wasn't cute on Christmas when we were six, and it isn't cute now." Gia yawned, rubbing her eyes. "What is it?"

"The guys did it! They beat that walking bag of bones!" Emma told her. Gia was always a slow riser, ever since they were kids. She took a second to register what had happened. The last thing she remembered was Skeltox attacking the island. He had hit all of them, and after that she had passed out. The fact she had regained consciousness let her know that they had defeated him for the first time. She pulled herself groggily out of the bed.

"Please tell me there's coffee on." Gia told her. Emma shook her head, grabbing Gia and dragging her.

"There's no time, the guys are in a Zord battle." Emma told her. "They need our help!"

As they got to the main room, Jordan was already at the controls, guiding the ship. Noah was in position ready for action.

"What's the situation?" Gia asked.

"They're not doing as well this time around." Jordan told her. "The Q-Rex is taking a beating."

"We'll be there soon." Noah assured her. Gia just nodded as she took up position.

"They did a good job helping us, let's return the favour!" Gia responded as they morphed. "Let's hit the Megazord mode and help them out!"

Back at the site of the battle, the Q-Rex sparked as Skeltox smashed a blow into its chest, sending it crashing to the ground. From his vantage point, Jake watched on and just shook his head.

"Well, there goes the concert venue." He muttered. He saw the Corsair Megazord coming into view, converting into Megazord mode in the air. He smiled as he brought out his grappling hook.

"Alright, the cavalry's here!" He stated as he ran towards a wall, leaping off into the void. He threw the grappling hook out, connecting to the side of the ship, and swinging up onto the deck. He scrambled into his zord just as it landed.

Orion pulled the Q-Rex back to its feet, rounding on Skeltox.

"Well, I guess you're all tapped out of new tricks and toys!" Skeltox taunted him with a cackling laugh. "You robbed me of my snacks, but it doesn't matter! With this new super-sized fishing rod, I'll be able to feed on entire cities at a time! I'll soon have this planet cleared out ready for Prince Vekar to rule!"

"It's not going to happen!" Orion called back. "As long as I'm still breathing, you're not going to take this planet!"

He started up his drill-shield as Skeltox fired off a power blast. He was barely able to hold the Zord upright, and several alerts and alarms started to sound as he held his ground. The energy levels in his Zord were starting to fall quickly. Skeltox started laughing as he poured on the power.

"This is the most fun I've had in years! Once again the galaxy will tremble at the name of Skeltox!" He declared triumphantly. However, the Megazord leapt into the air, over the beam, slamming a flying kick straight into his face. Skeltox just fell to the ground, his beam breaking off as he hit the ground.

"Skeltox? Seriously, that's his name?" Noah asked in a laugh. "He sounds like a character from my favourite cartoon as a kid!"

"He-man?" Jake asked. Noah just nodded.

"You know it, I LOVED Skeletor!" He responded.

"Well, right now we get to kick his ass!" Gia called out as they proceeded to pound into Skeltox. "Hey, Orion, how are you doing over there?"

"Uh...nothing I can't handle." He responded as he sprayed a fire extinguisher into a small flame on his control console. "The Time Force mechanics are really going to love me after this."

"I've gotten behind him." Jordan said as they slipped around behind Skeltox. He hooked his arms, holding him up in a full nelson. "We've got him on the ropes!"

"I demand that you release me at once!" Skeltox screamed.

"Yeah, because that's going to happen!" Jake replied. "Orion, think your Zord's got one more attack in it?"

"Definitely." He answered as he pulled out the Quantum Ranger, White Dino Thunder and Green Mighty Morphin' Ranger keys. He loaded them into his charred control console, turning them in the locks. "Q-Rex Megazord, triple drill attack!"

Skeltox struggled to get loose as he watched Orion powering up the attack. Although the Zord was damaged, and struggled to hold the power of the attack, Orion's determination to finish Skeltox once and for all drove him onwards.

"Uh...can...can we talk about this?" Skeltox asked.

"Sure, we can talk about it." Orion stated. "How about...goodbye!"

Skeltox screamed out as the attack hit home, destroying him utterly. The Megazords stood triumphantly over the island, and looked over the people.

"Another one bites the dust!" Orion called out. Just then, more alarms started sounding. "Uh...guys, I kind of need to get this thing back for repairs."

"Red Galleon!" Jordan called out, recalling all the Zords back into the Galleon. Orion leapt from his Zord, which converted back into its ship mode, landing on the deck of the Red Galleon. The rest of the Rangers were out quickly to meet him. He could only watch as the Q-Rex Zord flew back into the portal, spewing sparks and black smoke.

"Alex is NOT going to be happy about this!" Orion commented. Gia just put an arm around him.

"Hey, it's a weapon. He knows you aren't exactly using it to take a gentle drive in the countryside." She told him. "Anyway, we need to get this thing back into hiding and get back to looking for Kira."

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Damaras watched as Skeltox met his end. One of the X-borgs turned in its seat.

"Sir...Skeltox is..."

"Don't you think I can see that?" Damaras screamed, picking up the X-borg and hurling it across the room, where it smashed into several pieces. A cleaning droid appeared and started to clear up the debris.

"Should we update Prince Vekar?" One of the others asked. "He is in his quarters recuperating..."

"No...I suppose I should do that." Damaras sighed, checking surveillance and satisfying himself that Lavira was still in her lab, working on Argus. If the prince was going to find out that another of his Commanders had failed, then Damaras was keen to ensure that he was the one to tell him, that way he could try and figure out how to ensure the Prince saw that it wasn't his fault that Skeltox failed. "No one is to disturb us. This is going to be...unpleasant."

Meanwhile, in her lab, Lavira was working on the new implant for Argus. Although she didn't really have any reason to suspect his new dreams would cause any problems, she wasn't taking any chances. All the rest of his software, the directives that kept him loyal seemed to be functioning, but she wasn't going to take the chance that his biology would somehow over-ride that control.

"Open Argus' cranial cavity." She instructed the computer. The machine opened up the carapace surrounding Argus' head, revealing the inner workings, and the brain nestled within. Lavira took the implant and headed over, picking up a surgical tool as she went.

"Alright, this shouldn't take long." She sighed as she pulled up a chair, beginning to get to work. She located where the implant was to go, and started working to hook it up. "If only everything was this simple."

She felt more than a little dejected as she started cutting into Argus' brain.

"Damaras is so devious; the Prince can't see what he's up to!" Lavira continued as she worked away. "If I had proof he was up to no good, the Prince would have him executed for sure, but he's too clever to do anything that leaves any evidence behind!"

She couldn't help her mind drifting back to the Prince and stared off into space. It was only as an alert sounded, cautioning her she was about to cut into a vital part of Argus' brain that she was brought back to the task at hand.

"Things are so much easier with my machines." She grumbled. "I can tell you anything and you'll just believe it without question. If only there was some way that would work with the Prince. It's not like I can go putting implants in his brain."

She just sighed as she thought about it, finishing up with Argus.

"Computer, close up Argus' cranial cavity and run a full diagnostic on the new implant." She stated. "If only biological creatures were so easy to convince. If I could just get the Prince to believe me without evidence..."

"I believe biological creatures are inclined to obey prospective mates." The computer stated. Lavira just looked to the computer.

"Excuse me?" Lavira stated.

"Sexual attraction often over-rides higher reason within biological creatures." The computer elaborated. "Since the Prince is heterosexual and you are female, if he becomes infatuated with you, he will be more inclined to take your side over Damaras."

"That's easy for you to say." Lavira grumbled, putting her tools away. She had already imagined a relationship with the Prince, dreamed of having him look at her that way, but so far it was like he didn't notice her at all.

"Infatuation is merely a biological function." The computer told her, bringing up some chemical formulas. "There are substances that simulate such an effect very effectively."

Lavira looked to the screen, studying the formula, and furrowed her brows.

"Archive file?" She asked. "Rita Repulsa?"

"It appears that Rita Repulsa used this formula on Lord Zedd." The computer explained. "Its effects lasted for several years before they wore off."

Lavira shook her head. She couldn't believe she was even considering this...was she really considering slipping Prince Vekar a roofy? That was treason for sure! If anyone found out, she was bound to be destroyed! Not to mention that she would know whatever happened while he was under the influence of the potion would not be real, no matter how much she wished it was otherwise.

A few other thoughts crossed her mind though. What if she could get it to him without anyone noticing? What if she could convince him that Damaras was doing his campaign more harm than good with simple words? She could end a potential threat to his rule with a minimum of risk to the Prince! Even if he did eventually figure it out, once Damaras was gone, she was sure she would be able to find evidence of his disloyalty. The Prince wouldn't be happy about being manipulated, but surely he would forgive her once he realised that she acted in his best interest.

As she was about to shut down the file, a final note caught her attention. Lord Zedd and Rita remained married for years after the effects of the love potion wore off. It turned out that the potion may have curbed his evil tendencies...but in the end he had developed real feelings for her by the time the potion wore off.

Her hand hovered over the keyboard, considering closing the document back into the archive...but something stayed her hand. She scrolled down...just out of curiosity...to see what was in the potion.

"I have that...I have that...I can get that...that I can order...I have that..." She rhymed off, looking at the ingredients. "Preparation looks complicated...but if a half-blind old goat could do it, I'm sure I can."

Elsewhere, the Rangers arrived back at the hotel, making their way into the lobby. After the battle, they had hidden the Red Galleon and gotten back into their civilian clothing as quickly as they could. They were all smiling as they came up to the lobby area. They had been searching for the Ranger Keys for months, and now, they were within moments of finally getting the last set, the elusive Dino Thunder Keys.

"Alright, we're here." Gia told them. "Now, remember, be cool."

"Really?" Emma asked her. "Is that why you have your autograph book with you?"

"I...um..." Gia stammered, hiding the book away in the inside pocket of her jacket. "Let's just get to her room."

Noah went up to the reception desk, handing over a fake ID he had made up. He smiled at the receptionist.

"Hello, my name is John Mark Loudermilk, I'm with the Daily Mercury." He told her. "I was hoping I could have a word with...Emma Lahana, she's in the presidential suite?"

"I'm sorry sir, but Ms. Lahana and her group just checked out." The receptionist told him. He looked to the others, before looking back to the receptionist.

"She...she's gone?" He asked. The receptionist just nodded.

"I'm afraid that her security detail believed it would be too dangerous for her to remain." The receptionist explained. "Ms. Lahana was most upset too, she wanted to stay, but when the concert venue was destroyed and the concert had to be cancelled anyway..."

"Wait, the concert is cancelled?" Orion asked. Jake just sighed and shook his head.

"Um...your Zord kind of sat on the concert venue during the fight." He whispered.

"Oh...sorry." He mumbled.

"They went to the airport to leave the island." The receptionist told them. "She's already agreed to return to do a re-scheduled concert once we've re-built, but her security team insisted she had to leave..."

"Thank you." Noah said sadly, before heading back to his team. He looked to them. "I can't believe it, we're too late."

"Stupid monster...that delay cost us the chance to meet up with her!" Emma stated.

"I guess we'll just have to hope we can get a lead on where she's going next." Noah replied. "Come on guys, we'll get back to the ship."

As they were leaving, Emma saw something on a couch, a stuffed tiger. She picked it up, looking at it sadly.

"What is it?" Jordan asked her.

"It's a lot like one I got Cat ages ago." She replied, taking it to the reception desk. "Here, it looks like someone left this here."

"Thank you." The receptionist replied, taking it off her. None of them noticed a note falling out of it as the receptionist put it in the lost and found box.

As the Rangers left the hotel, Jake hung back a little. He grabbed Orion, stopping him.

"Hey, Orion...can we talk?" He asked. Orion just looked to him.

"Sure." He replied.

"Listen...all that stuff you did today, you were...well...you were pretty amazing!" Jake complimented him. "I mean...I don't understand how you do it, but that thing with the Ranger Keys...that's pretty cool, and that Gold Mode is just sick!"

"Thanks." Orion replied, flicking his thumb in the direction of the path the others were walking down. "Um...we should probably..."

"Orion, there's something else." Jake interrupted him. "When the others got hit...when I wanted to go it alone...you were willing to stand with me. That means a lot."

"Jake, they're my team too." Orion assured him.

"No...it really was something else." Jake told him. "I also wanted you to know...I finally understand. What happened with Argus I mean."

Jake stepped closer, putting a hand on Orion's shoulder.

"You can't do anything for your home planet, but Marv is still around." Jake told him. "I just want you to know...I get it. If there's anything we can do to get him back, anything at all...then I'm behind you trying."

"I know that I might still have to make a choice one day." Orion told him. "But that means a lot. Thanks Jake."

They just stood and stared at each other for a moment.

"Uh...did we just have a moment?" Orion asked. Jake just stammered awkwardly for a second. He really wasn't the best with overly emotional moments.

"Hey, last one back to the ship cooks!" He answered, running off, before vaulting over a wall. Orion just smiled as he chased after him.

"Yeah, when you know all that parkour stuff? That's real fair Jake!" Orion called back as he set off in pursuit.


	8. Tensou's Strike

After narrowly missing out in Malta, arriving at the hotel mere moments after Kira had been taken to the airport to head on the next leg of her tour, the Rangers had a little time to decompress and figure out their next move.

The one advantage of Kira's fame was that finding out where she would be was not exactly a huge problem. A simple look at her website gave them her touring schedule, and while some of the dates had now been cancelled, they knew that soon she would be stopping over in Porto for another concert. The main problem wasn't finding out where she would be, the issue was how to be able to get close to her without revealing who she was.

They brought the Red Galleon just beneath the clouds, keeping it hidden from prying eyes, waiting for Kira to arrive in the city. Until she got there, they really didn't have a whole lot to do, and so were taking some time to just relax and prepare themselves for whatever The Armada would throw at them next.

Gia came out onto the deck, finding Emma taking some pictures of the local birds. She came over and leaned on the railing, letting out a long sigh.

"I guess you still haven't come up with any ideas." Emma asked her. Gia just shook her head.

"I'm about this close to considering Noah's plan of kidnapping her." Gia told her, holding up her hand with her thumb and forefinger a small distance apart to emphasise the point. "I can't believe we missed her! Damn Vekar!"

"He never did have any respect for people's plans." Emma commented. Gia looked around, seeing a number of crates on the deck, set up seemingly at random around the place. She pointed to them. "What's all this?"

"Ever since Jake beat him in that race, Orion asked him to show him some of his parkour moves." Emma told her. "So Jake's set up kind of an assault course to let him practice."

"Well, as long as they put everything back, I'd really prefer it if nobody trips and breaks their neck." Gia stated. "God knows Vrak and Vekar are doing enough to kill us."

She looked out over the edge, seeing some dark clouds out in the distance. She furrowed her brows.

"I really don't like the look of those clouds." She stated.

"The air feels pretty heavy." Emma told her. "I think we can expect a storm in the near future. I should be able to get some pretty impressive shots."

Just then, Jake came bounding into view, launching himself over one of the crates, using his hands to vault over it, keeping his feet tucked under himself. He landed and turned towards the rear of the ship.

"And that would be the kong vault!" He told him. "Come on then shiny pants! Let's see you do it!"

They heard a huge yell, following which Orion sprinted into view. He launched himself up into the air, and his hands connected with the crate, but he didn't quite clear it, his feet catching the edge. He took a hard spill, his head rebounding off the deck as he landed in a heap. Gia just rolled her eyes.

"Great, that's just what we need!" She chastised Jake as he helped Orion up. "Could you please NOT try and break the new guy?"

"Sorry about that." Jake stated as Orion held a hand to his head. They could already see some blood coming through between his fingers. "I thought he could do it...I thought..."

"Whatever, just...get all this cleared up." Gia told him. "Emma, go and get him cleaned up. That storm's coming in, and I'd really rather no one else gets hurt today."

"It doesn't look too deep." Emma told him. "Come on, we'll get that cleaned up."

As Orion followed her below deck, and Gia went below deck to make sure that Jordan and Noah weren't doing anything to damage themselves or the ship, Jake started clearing up his assault course.

In his underwater base, Vrak watched the storm rolling in, a smile crossing his face.

"This storm is perfect for powering up my latest invention, this energy crystal." He said as he produced a large crystal. "With it, I can boost the power of any monster tenfold! The Powermid is in perfect position...now all I need is the monster."

"I...I could...I could do it." A voice said from the corner. Vrak just sighed.

"I am afraid not, your frail form would never withstand the boost in power." Vrak told the stranger. "Besides, I have another task in mind for you."

"Then who are you..."

"I have just the monster." Vrak interrupted him. At that point, a door opened and the latest monster arrived. Vrak just turned in this throne to see him. "Sirjinkor...I see you got my message."

"I got your message." He snorted.

"And why prey tell do you believe that the one who considers himself the Royal Family's most loyal knight is the one for this mission?" Vrak asked him. Sirjinkor just stared straight at Vrak.

"Ridding the Royal Family of a rotten branch is no act of treason. Sometimes it is necessary to protect them, even from themselves." Sirjinkor told him. "It is clear that Prince Vekar is not suited to leading the empire. If your family tree needs a little...pruning to ensure the continued domination of the empire I have helped build, I consider it a service to..."

"Yes, well...that will do." Vrak told him. He threw the crystal to Sirjinkor. "I will send you the co-ordinates of the Powermid shortly. Go there when the storm passes and charge up the power crystal. Then you will have all the power you need to bring the Rangers to their knees."

Back on the Red Galleon, Orion was in Emma's room as she examined him. It wasn't as though the Rangers weren't used to occasionally patching each other up, but normally it was a result of a battle or training. Usually they tried not to be too careless, knowing that it wasn't exactly wise to take any more chances than they really had to. Of course...they WERE young, so...that wasn't always the case.

"Well, it isn't too bad; it's really more of a graze than anything else." Emma told him as she threw her anti-septic wipe into the trash. "Maybe you should try growing some thicker skin if you're going to make a habit of landing on your face."

"I'll try and bear that in mind." He replied in a small chuckle. The Rangers had kind of an unwritten rule on the ship. Because it was so important that they were ready to do battle at any moment, it was taken as fair game to take pot shots at anyone who managed to hurt themselves by being careless as a way of discouraging such behaviour. Obviously it was a different matter if they were seriously hurt, but in instances like this, it was now open season on Orion. He looked around as Emma looked out some sutures. The inside of her room was covered in pictures she had taken.

"I thought you didn't print out most of your pictures." Orion stated. "You know...saving the trees and all that kind of thing."

"I've been printing my pictures a lot more often." Emma conceded. "I guess...I guess I just like having them around."

"Since Troy left you mean." He surmised, picking up a picture frame, showing Emma and Troy in one of their moments together. She just smiled, taking it from him.

"This was our anniversary." She told him. "Since he's been gone...I don't know...I guess I just like surrounding myself with memories that make me smile."

"Like this?" He asked, picking up a picture of Jake in the now-infamous Mr Brainfreeze outfit. He was the one that had brought the hated thing onto the ship in the first place, when Ernie had given it to him to allow him to slip unseen past some guys who were trying to claim the reward on him. No one was sorry to see the costume go, but the picture always made her smile.

"Yeah, that was a good one." Emma chuckled. "Jake could really pull that look off."

Orion looked around another few pictures as Emma started to apply some butterfly stitches to his forehead. He smiled.

"You know...at times I forget how long all of you were together before I got here." He commented. "So many of these memories...I don't know anything about."

"Well, you are in some of them." Emma reminded him. "Look, here's the day Gia and I took you to that stylist and..."

"Hey, who's that Gia's with?" Orion asked as he picked up another picture. Emma just smiled.

"That's Cat." Emma told him. "She was..."

"Gia's ex?" Orion asked, remembering hearing the name from the others. Emma just nodded.

"Yeah." Emma replied. Orion just looked a little surprised to hear this.

"But...Cat's a girl." He replied.

"That's very observant of you." Emma answered. "Didn't the name kind of give it away?"

"My name's Orion!" He reminded her. "Naming paradigms aren't exactly the same on my planet."

He just stared at the picture.

"So...Gia's a...a...Kruchiken." He asked. Emma just looked at him curiously. He was pretty much fluent in English, but every now and then, when he was confronted by something he didn't quite understand, he slipped back into his familiar Andresian.

"She's gay." Emma confirmed. "It's...not exactly a secret, you really didn't know?"

"I guess...it just never came up." Orion answered as she placed a band-aid over his stitches. "Thanks for this...um...I'm just...going to pray."

"OK...um...no problem." Emma replied as he gathered up his jacket and left. She took the picture, and looked at it, smiling. It had been a long time since she had seen Gia so happy, it was for that reason it was one of her favourite pictures. She just placed it on the shelf, and started to clear up her first-aid supplies.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, in her lab, Lavira was working on Argus when an alert sounded. She looked to the screen and smiled when she saw a couple of X-borgs outside her lab, carrying a large crate.

"Well, it looks like my delivery's finally arrived." She said happily as she opened the door. The X-borgs came in, carrying the crate. She gestured to one of the work benches.

"Be careful, some of those chemicals are extremely volatile." She warned them. She opened up the create, checking the contents. "Yes...yes...at last, now I have everything I need!"

She then looked to the two X-borgs.

"Was anyone else there when you took in this delivery?" She asked. "Does anyone know about this?"

The two robots shook their heads. Lavira just stepped closer.

"Over-ride code, Alpha 280814." She whispered. Both of the X-borgs stopped stock still. "Go to your posts, erase the last three hours from your memory drives, then re-boot."

The two X-borgs dutifully shuffled off, leaving Lavira alone in the lab. She inspected the chemicals before her and started to remove them from the crate, pulling up the instructions from the database.

"Your instructions left a lot to be desired Finster." She grumbled. "Fortunately chemistry is one of my strong suits."

Back on the Red Galleon, the Rangers were all inside, taking shelter from the storm, all except for Emma and Orion. Emma had gone out onto the deck with her camera to get some shots of the storm; while Orion had gone out to...well...no one was really sure what he was doing. He had already told them that there was a goddess dedicated to storms in his faith, and so they all presumed it was some form of ritual he was taking part in.

As Emma came back into the main room, the others were playing cards. Not a standard card game with a normal deck, on one of their many excursions into public areas, Jake had found that there was a lot more Ranger merchandise than they realised. In particular, there was a card game dedicated to the Rangers. It wasn't normally his kind of thing, but because it was Ranger orientated, he had made a point of buying more and more booster packs any time he found them.

"OK, what gives?" Noah asked. "Why exactly does the Blue Space Ranger have the lowest overall stats on his whole team? He used to LEAD the team!"

"I don't know, I didn't make the rules." Gia sighed. "Just...play the card."

"Hey, you guys still at it?" Emma asked. Jake just smiled.

"Not for much longer if Noah keeps playing like this." He taunted the Blue Ranger. Noah just made a face as he slapped down the card, which was immediately trumped by Gia's next move. The Pink Galaxy Ranger.

"So...which one do you reckon it is? Kendrix or Karone?" Jake asked. Gia just smiled.

"I kind of hope it was Kendrix." Gia told them.

"Yeah, I know you did have kind of a thing for that whole look." Emma chuckled, pulling her in closer. "Kruchiken."

"Emma!" Tensou screeched as he landed on the table, glaring at her. "How could you say such a thing?"

"Did...did I just do something wrong?" Emma asked. "I...I heard Orion say it earlier..."

Tensou immediately flew off the table, and soared out of the door, up onto the deck.

"Tensou, come back!" Jordan called out. "The storm!"

As they headed out onto the deck, they found Tensou flying around, pecking at Orion in a frenzy, screaming at him in Andresian.

"Tensou, what's going on?" Noah asked. Tensou didn't answer though, continuing his attack on Orion.

"Tensou, whatever it is...come back inside!" Gia told him. "This storm..."

Just then, they could only watch as Tensou flew outwards over the edge to get more momentum into his attack, but as he did so, a huge bolt of lightning arced from a nearby cloud, striking him dead-on.

"TENSOU!" They all screamed in unison. The little metal bird seemed to stall and fall still, before tumbling down out of sight. They all ran to the edge of the ship, but he quickly disappeared from view into the darkness.

"We need to go after him!" Noah stated. "He could be damaged..."

"You want to risk rappelling in THIS storm?" She asked him. "It'd be suicide!"

"So what can we do?" Jake asked.

"For now, we have to get back below deck and wait until the storm passes." Gia told him. "Until then, all we can do is hope we can find Tensou before anyone else does."


	9. Where For Art Thou Tensou?

In his underwater base, Vrak was keeping track of things, making sure the Rangers wouldn't interrupt his latest plan. Sirjinktor might have defected to his cause, but having seen so many fall to the Rangers, he didn't want to risk them interfering before he had fully charged up his crystal and increased his powers.

Like Vekar, he had trouble keeping track of the Rangers thanks to their cloaking technology, but he did have ways of getting a very general idea of where they were. The last time he got a reading that might have been a sign of their current location; it was near the city of Porto. This was a little concerning, because the mountain range he had placed his Powermid in was not especially far from the city. It was a few miles, and it wasn't as though he would expect them to go out of their way from whatever it was they were searching for unless they had a reason to.

He adjusted his scans yet again as he tried to maintain a strong signal. The storm was playing havoc with his reception, and making getting good readings more than a little difficult. The only saving grace was that he imagined the Rangers would have similar difficulties. For the time being at least, it looked like their last suspected location was a fair distance from where Sirjinktor was likely to be. He had teleported him as close as he dared to the Powermid, but between the terrain and the storm, he knew it would take him a while to get there.

As he was checking the overview, he suddenly hit a blip...a BIG blip on his map. Ranger technology was being used uncloaked and unchecked. It concerned him at first that somehow they had gotten wind of what he was up to and were on their way to intercept his Commander, but on closer inspection, it wasn't close by, and more importantly...it didn't appear to be moving towards him.

He started trying to get a more detailed scan. It occurred to him that it was odd that the Rangers, who were normally so careful about not allowing themselves to be accurately traced, would decide to use their powers so openly and so brazenly so far from anything of tactical importance. They had to know it would send up a flare to him, even to his incompetent oaf of a brother. It would be like turning up to his doorstep with a marching band!

He finally got a more detailed scan of the energy signature and realised that it wasn't one of the Rangers. The energy signature was similar, but it wasn't one of them. He worked frantically to get a hold of a video feed from the area to see what it was.

He finally found some footage. It was jumpy, and the quality was questionable, but it at least showed him something of the area. He watched as something streaked down from the sky, falling through some trees and embedding itself in the ground. He backed up the footage and watched it again, hoping to enhance it. As he finally managed to get a clear image, he saw a little ball of bronze hitting the ground hard, like it had fallen from a great height. He managed to get a good look at it and smiled as he finally saw it wasn't a ball, but a mechanical parrot. He remembered hearing something about this before.

"Well, it looks like the Rangers have lost their little mascot." He said with a sick little smirk. "Well, that was careless now wasn't it?"

He turned in his chair, looking into a darkened corner.

"I have a little job for you." He announced. "I want you to find this machine, this...Tensou I believe they call him."

"Why?" The voice in the darkness asked him. Vrak just shifted in his throne.

"What difference does it make?" He asked. "I want you to find him! We had an agreement."

"The Rangers deserve to pay!" The voice replied. "I agreed to do anything it took, but...going to pick up their discarded toys?"

"You will serve as a distraction." Vrak told him. "You will keep them away from Sirjinktor. If you manage to take a couple of Rangers out of the equation in the process...so much the better. I just want them distracted."

"We had a deal!" The voice replied. Vrak just nodded.

"Yes we did." He replied. "And I've kept my word. My treatments are working; your son is almost fully restored...though I can always stop them if you wish."

"No...no of course not." He replied. "Just get me as close to the budgie as you can. I'll keep the Rangers busy."

Meanwhile, up on the Red Galleon, Emma was looking out of the port hole as Noah checked his computers. Jake was standing over Noah's shoulder, staring at the computer, hoping he would catch onto something, while Gia and Jordan paced the floor impatiently. Orion was sitting in the corner, watching all of this going on. Before he was struck, Tensou had been screaming at him in Andresain, and was attacking him. He didn't think the others had put the pieces together yet because none of them spoke his language fluently, only knowing a few phrases and words, but from what Tensou was screaming at him, he knew why the little robot was angry. If it wasn't for him, Tensou would never have gone above deck in that weather. It sickened him to think that this was his fault.

"The weather looks to be dying down." Emma commented. "We should hopefully be able to get to the ground soon."

"Jake, would you quit breathing down my neck?" Noah asked. "I keep telling you I'll tell you once I've narrowed down the search area."

"But he is still working right?" Gia asked. Jordan just looked to her.

"I designed him to be robust after what happened to his last body." He assured her. "He should have survived the fall. Noah's got a signal, so we know his main processor wasn't fried by the lightning."

"Unfortunately, the signal is also kind of a problem." Noah told them. "He's not cloaking his signal. He's broadcasting at full strength..."

"So if we can track him..."

"So can The Armada." Noah concluded. Orion just hunched over, feeling this getting to him. Not only was Tensou now lost, and potentially in danger, but because he was damaged, he was giving out a signal that could potentially lead The Armada right to them. They were now all in danger, all because of him. He couldn't help feeling ill, seeing them working frantically to find Tensou, all of them either unaware or at least ignoring the fact that Orion had caused all of it in the first place.

"Right, so we need to find him and get him back here as soon as possible." Gia told them. "We need to find him before anyone else does."

"Hang on...there's something weird here." Noah stated. He drew their attention to something. "There's...there's another signal a few miles from here."

"Another signal?" Jake asked.

"Yeah...I can't tell what it is." Noah stated. "All I know is...it's not from Earth, and it is powerful."

"Great, that's all we need." Gia said as she started to pace again, thinking about what to do. Seeing Orion, she had a thought. "Orion, you and Noah go and track down that signal."

"What?" Orion asked. "But...Tensou..."

"Tensou is the priority right now, we need to find him and get him back for repairs." Gia explained. "We don't know what this thing in the mountains is. We can always come to you if you need help, but with that Gold Mode, you're the most likely to be able to handle any major issues yourself."

"But, I want to find..."

"Orion, the rest of us can look for Tensou." Gia told him. "We'll keep you updated."

"It's only a few miles out." Noah told him. "We can summon Mountain Blaster when we get to the ground; it shouldn't take too long to check this out."

Orion just looked to Gia, who had a stern look on her face. Did she know what had caused this? Orion wondered if maybe she was sending him because she didn't want him with the team. Maybe she thought he had done enough damage. Maybe...she didn't even want him on the team anymore. He could see that she wasn't going to be convinced, and as acting captain, the decision was ultimately hers. Eventually, he just nodded.

"I'll check it out." Orion assured them. "Just let me know if you need any help."

"Alright, now that's settled, everyone take an area and start searching." Gia told them. "Noah's narrowed it down as much as he can right now, but if you see anything, don't hesitate to contact the others. The last thing we need is anyone else going missing."

Down on the ground, Tensou's hard-drive had shut down all non-essential systems after the power surge of the lightning bolt to protect as much of his higher functions as possible. He was, for want of a better phrase, unconscious, while his systems re-booted. Normally, it would only take a couple of minutes, but as the script ran...there were lines of code that had been corrupted. Several times, the hard drive tried and failed to run the programme, until eventually it ran on a basic start-up programme.

His eyes started to open up, and he looked around, seeing himself in unfamiliar surroundings. He struggled to get onto his feet.

"What...what happened?" He asked. "Where am I?"

He looked around, trying to see if anything was familiar, or made sense. He looked up, seeing a number of broken and singed branches in the trees, leading down to a long trench in the ground, which ended in the crater Tensou was now standing in.

"Did...I do that?" He asked. A moment later, a couple of kids came through the undergrowth. They were laughing, playing some kind of game. They were carrying sticks which they were wielding like swords as they ran through the wood. One of them lost his footing as his foot went into the trench and fell over. It was then that they noticed the damage.

"Hello?" Tensou asked. The kids just looked at him in wonder. One of them approached him slowly.

"You can talk?" The kid asked. He looked to the damage, and then back to Tensou. "Did you do this?"

"I think so." Tensou told him. "I think I fell...from...somewhere."

"Who are you?" The other kid asked. Tensou was about to answer, only to hit on a problem.

"I don't know!" Tensou told them. The two kids looked at each other, trying to think of what to do.

"What is he?" One of them asked. "Do you think he's one of those alien things the Rangers fight against?"

"Does he look like an alien to you?" The other one asked. "I don't know what he is, but he obviously didn't come here like this on purpose, maybe he was attacked."

"Maybe we should just go." The first suggested. The other just glared at him.

"He can't remember who he is; don't you remember what your uncle was like when he was in that car accident?" He asked. "Maybe we should get him to someone that can repair him."

"Here he is!" Another voice called out, coming through the bushes. "I might have known he'd end up in the park."

"You know what this thing is?" One of the kids asked.

"Of course, I built him!" The man answered. "There was just...a little accident when I turned him on."

"What is he?" One of the kids asked. "Who are you?"

"I'm...a toy maker; this is a prototype for a new toy I'm working on." He told them. He pulled out some Euros, handing them to the kids. "Here, take this...call it a thank you for finding him."

The kids didn't need to be told twice, and both of them headed out of the park, back into the city. Tensou could only see the feet coming towards him.

"You...you made me?" He asked. "You know who I am?"

"Of course I do." He replied, kneeling down. He put down a back pack and unzipped it. "Here, let me get you somewhere we can fix you up."

"So, who are you?" Tensou asked. The man looked to him, smiling.

"Call me Wayne." He told Tensou as he reached out for him. "Here, I'll take you somewhere I can fix you."

Tensou didn't know who this was, but right now he didn't have much choice in the matter. With no idea who he was, or what was going on, all he could do was hope that this 'Wayne' was telling the truth about knowing him. As Wayne put him in the back pack, he saw it was a little too small, leaving Tensou's head exposed. He just looked to Tensou, thinking for a moment.

"Now, I need you to be very quiet for me." He told him. "Maybe you'd like to...go on standby or something?"

"I could do with a rest." Tensou agreed. As he closed his eyes, Wayne hefted the weight of the bag onto his shoulder, and pulled out a communicator.

"Vrak, I've found him like you asked." He told him. "What do you want me to do now?"

"Oh just...take a tour of the city or something." Vrak instructed him. "Just keep the Rangers going around in circles for a while. Keep them out of the way as long as you can."

"I think I can manage that." He replied, making his way out of the park. As he did so, he saw a tour bus pulling up. He got on it, paying his fare, not even noticing as Emma appeared at the other end of the street. She could see him, but couldn't believe what she had seen. She pulled out her communicator.

"Guys, I've just seen Tensou." She told them as she started running to try and catch up to the bus. "There's a problem..."

"Emma, I'm right above you." Jake told her as he looked over the balcony of a restaurant he was using for a better view. "Is he on that bus you're chasing?"

"Yes, he is..."

"Right, I'm on it!" Jake replied, putting his communicator away and vaulting over the balcony.

"Jake, hold on!" She called out as he started sprinting after the bus. She could see he wasn't holding his communicator anymore, concentrating on catching up to the bus. She saw him leaping over another wall in pursuit. "Jake...Spider's dad has him!"

Unfortunately, he was already too far away to hear. She just pulled out her communicator again to relay the news to the others.

Jake was in hot pursuit, using every ounce of his strength and skill to keep up with the bus. He was just cutting through a square, heading towards a bus stop, when he saw that it had stopped and was letting people off. He took a second to catch his breath, analysing the crowd for signs of Tensou. He caught sight of him in a back pack and ran after him as the man carrying him headed down a side-street.

As he rounded a corner though, he was caught in the chest with a hard kick, and knocked flat onto his back. He struggled to catch his breath as the wind was knocked out of him. Wayne started to walk around him.

"Now, you are a long way from home aren't you?" He asked. Jake got to his knees, wheezing as the identity of the man he was chasing finally dawned on him.

"Wayne?" He asked. "You...you're here?"

"I'd go anywhere; do anything it takes to get my son's mind back!" He told him. "The fact it means I get to make you suffer a little in the process is just a bonus!"

"Look, I understand why you're pissed...I would be too!" Jake protested. "I still feel sick when I think about what Gosei did to Spider..."

"Mikey!" Wayne corrected him, pulling out a pistol. Jake saw the gun and knew he was in trouble. He held up his hands.

"Look, we had nothing to do with what Gosei did I swear!" Jake told him.

"You didn't do anything to help either did you? You just continued to follow the thing that turned my son into a lunatic!" He responded. "Now, Vrak's giving him a treatment that will bring my son back!"

"I swear to God, if there's anything we can do to help we will, but Vrak can't be trusted!" Jake rushed out. "Whatever he's promised you, you can't believe he'll honour his word!"

"Well, I trust his word a lot more than I trust yours right now." Wayne told him. He fired off a couple of rounds, which narrowly missed Jake. He reacted as quickly as he could, grabbing for the gun, only to find himself thrown to the ground. He found to his surprise though as Wayne ran away, that he had the gun in his hand.

"Tensou!" Jake called out as he ran after him. He got into the street, and could see Wayne running away, but found his way was barred by a couple of police officers. They both drew their guns and pointed straight at Jake, yelling something at him.

He didn't recognise what they said, he didn't speak Portuguese, but he had seen more than enough cop shows to know what this situation was. He looked down, realising he was still holding the gun, and realised exactly what this looked like. The cops had to have heard the shots from the street, and he chased a guy out, carrying a gun.

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed as he immediately held his hands up, holding the gun where they could see it wasn't pointing at anyone. He started to sink down to his knees, putting the gun down on the ground and keeping his hands clear as the cops approached, pulling his hands behind him and handcuffing him. "Um...do either of you speak English?"


	10. Chasing Tensou

Noah and Orion were in Mountain Blaster, heading up into the mountains. They still didn't know what they were looking for, but since it had the hallmarks of an Armada power signature, they knew that it was for the best that they check it out.

The ride was a long, and pretty quiet one all things considered. Orion didn't really feel like talking much, still blaming himself for what had happened. Tensou had been struck by lightning while he was attacking him, all over what he had said about Gia. He had put on the radio, hoping to create a distraction. Noah looked to him as he fiddled with the controls, trying to find a station he wanted to listen to.

"You know, maybe you'd hear a song you want to hear if you'd actually pick a station and listen to it for like ten seconds." Noah suggested. Orion just shrugged and left the knob alone as he hit on a song with kind of a reggae beat. It sounded a little like some of the songs he and his people used to amuse themselves with back home. Orion sat and listened to it for a moment. He furrowed his brows as he heard the song. "What? You don't like it?"

"Why does this guy consider him rude?" Orion asked. Noah just looked to Orion, letting go of the wheel. He only even held onto the controls for appearances, but Mountain Blaster was a sentient vehicle. It could easily control itself, and there was no one else for miles, so he doubted anyone would notice he wasn't holding the wheel.

"You're kidding right?" Noah asked. "This guy's going out with his daughter, and he asked her dad for permission to marry her...and he just said no without even thinking about it."

"Yeah, he wants to do what's right by his daughter." Orion stated. "If he doesn't think the guy can give her a good life..."

"Wait...are you trying to tell me that on Andresia...a father would get to tell his daughter who she could and couldn't marry?" Noah asked. Orion just nodded.

"It was up to the parents to ensure the best matches for their kids." Orion told them. "Sure, the kids got a say, but in the end, sometimes they didn't make good choices."

"Were you...were you arranged?" Noah asked. Orion didn't say anything. "Sorry, I should have thought..."

"What's wrong with the parents wanting what's best for their daughter?" Orion asked.

"What's wrong with the daughter picking who she wants to be with for the rest of her life?" Noah asked in response.

"So if this guy's going to just marry her anyway, why did he ask her father in the first place?" Orion asked. Noah just shrugged.

"I don't know, it's just...tradition." Noah told him. "At one time we used to do that for real, but now...some people do it just as kind of a formality. You know, kind of a sign of respect or something."

Orion didn't say anything as he heard this.

"I remember one time I went with my father to one of the big cities to trade one of our mineral hauls. We saw a young couple getting engaged." Orion told him. "They didn't ask their parents...their parents weren't even there. I remember dad telling me that the big cities let a lot of the traditions slide."

"I thought you didn't leave your village." Noah recalled. Orion just looked to him.

"I rarely did, I only left a couple of times in my life." He told Noah.

"Well...don't you think you need to understand something before you can decide if you think it's wrong?" Noah asked. "I mean, those young people you saw getting engaged. Did you know anything about them?"

"I'd never met them before." Orion replied honestly.

"Then how do you know they weren't really good people?" Noah asked him. "How do you know that maybe, they loved each other so much, and knew they wanted to be together so much that they didn't NEED to ask their parents? Why would them making that decision automatically be wrong?"

Orion didn't answer; he didn't have the chance to. As they came up to the summit of the cliff, they saw a monster standing by what looked like a stone plinth. There was a small pyramid on top of it. They could see it glowing, and crackling with power. As they pulled up, they got out of the vehicle, running towards the monster.

"Hey!" Noah called out. "Whatever you're doing, stop right now!"

"No human can give orders to Sirjinktor!" He called out, rounding on them, powering up his blade. "The storm has powered up the Powermid...once it has finished transferring that power to the power crystal, I will have all the power I need to destroy all of you!"

"Not if we can help it." Noah called back as he and pulled out their morphers. "Guys, we have a monster up here!"

"We have our own problems down here." Gia called back. "We're still trying to track down Tensou. Our old friend Wayne has him!"

"What?" Noah asked. "But what about...?"

"You'll have to deal with this on your own!" Gia told them. "We can't risk losing Tensou!"

"Alright, it looks like we're on our own!" Noah told Orion as they both morphed. "We need to finish him before he finishes powering up that crystal!"

"Then that's exactly what we'll do!" Orion replied as they both ran into battle.

Back in Porto, Jake was in a police interview room, sitting by himself. He had seen a lot of cop shows, and so he knew that they often did this, leaving a suspect alone to let the tension build before finally beginning the questioning. Knowing this didn't make it any less effective. His stomach was in knots, his heart was going like the clappers, his mouth was drying up...if he had eaten recently...he was certain he'd need to use a bathroom desperately.

It wasn't the first time he had been in a police station. An unfortunate incident involving a fight with another kid over some anti-Semitic bullying had led to him spending a few weeks in a juvenile detention facility. It was a record that would have been expunged when he turned 18 a few months back, but he already knew he was in a lot of trouble. For one thing, he had been found running around the streets, carrying a gun. Police pretty much everywhere didn't really like that. The fact that the cops had heard shots being fired before they saw him, and the fact a simple test would confirm that the gun he was holding had been fired would indicate that he had FIRED a weapon in a public street. Police pretty much everywhere DEFINITELY didn't like that!

Finally, he had another concern. While he was worried about his team, and about Tensou, he also knew the position he was in. He was sitting in a police station. The cops were probably checking out his belongings as he spoke, including the contents of his wallet! Thanks to Vekar, he was still considered a fugitive! Running his name from one of his bank cards or his drivers' licence would very quickly send up a red flag, telling the cops who he was. It then all depended what kind of people they were, whether they would turn him loose, or whether they would try and claim his bounty. While he was still the team member with the lowest bounty...it was still in the hundreds of millions! It was a pretty tempting thing for anyone to claim that kind of money. It was a life-changing sum. Heck, even Jake had to admit that if he wasn't the one being chased, he'd have to at least think about it.

As the clock ticked on, he could see that he had now been alone in the room for fifteen minutes. It was then that the door opened and a man in a suit, together with another man in a police uniform came in. The man in the suit was carrying a plastic bag of his belongings, his wallet, his morpher, and...the gun. OK, that wasn't Jake's, but so far the police had to think it was.

"I'm detective Marceau, this is Sergeant Laufay." He introduced them as he sat down and started the recording. "I understand you do not speak Portuguese, so you require me to speak English, is that correct?"

Jake just nodded. The detective sighed and looked to the bag of belongings, holding up the gun.

"Now, you were found with this weapon drawn after shots were fired." The detective began. Jake just looked to him, thinking about what his father had always said about this situation.

"I'd like to speak to a lawyer." He told him. The detective just looked to him.

"Do you have something to hide?" He asked. Jake just shook his head. This was something that cops sometimes did, try to insinuate that speaking to a lawyer was seen as a sign of guilt. In truth, speaking to a lawyer and having one sit in on an interview was just a good idea to stop a nervous witness being led into saying something that they regretted.

"No, I just want to speak to a lawyer." Jake told him. "I believe it's my right."

"Very well." The detective stated, switching off the recorder. He then just looked to Jake. "Oh, but now we're not being recorded, I would just like to ask...why exactly do you run around with a gun Green Ranger?"

Jake looked to him as he pulled out a wanted poster, showing his picture. He just let out a groan, banging his head on the table.

"OK, so you know who I am." Jake told him. "So think about it, why would I run around with a gun if you know I can call far more impressive weapons?"

"Is that a threat?" The detective asked him. Jake realised what that sounded like and held up his hands in protest.

"No, no what I meant was..." He looked between the two cops in the room. "The guy that was running away from me stole something important to me. He was the one that fired the gun, then he threw it at me...I was just...I forgot I even had it!"

"You are a wanted fugitive." The detective reminded him.

"Only by Vekar...we're the ones trying to get rid of him and free the Earth!" Jake protested. "Come on...this is all just a misunderstanding...the gun isn't mine, I don't even want it! You can keep the damn thing for all I care! I just need to get out of here!"

"Well, we could go that way." The detective told him. "Of course...you ARE worth 200 million dollars...and my pension could really use a little padding. Take him back to custody Sergeant."

"Wait...you're not serious are you?" Jake asked. "Come on! We're the good guys!"

"Trust me, it's nothing personal." The detective told him as he put Jake's possessions away. The sergeant hand-cuffed Jake and took him back to the cells, while the detective headed back to his desk to alert The Armada's hotline.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Prince Vekar was in his chambers, with a drink in his hand, once again watching the video link into Lavira's lab, watching her work. He didn't know how to access the sound, but he was more than happy just watching her on the screen. He never understood any of her work or her experiments, but it was amazing watching her work.

"Lavira, you are so brilliant." He said dreamily as he watched her. "You are more beautiful and brilliant than any of the dull and spoiled nobles that have been pledged to me."

He could see her mixing chemicals, working with an intricate apparatus that he didn't really understand. He imagined she was working on something else ingenious to help him take over the Earth. Her weapons were always a masterpiece, he was curious to know what it was. Perhaps it was some form of potion that would increase the strength of his warriors. It was possible it was some kind of new fuel for the robots that would increase their power. Maybe it was some form of biological weapon that would bring humans to their knees, begging him for mercy. Whatever it was, she was working hard on it, hardly leaving her lab in days.

"She's so dedicated, so passionate about her work." He said with a goofy smile as he watched her. It was then that he noticed something else. The door to her lab opened and someone else came in. He squinted to see.

"Who is that?" He asked. "Jealoushitto? What's he doing there?"

As the monster approached Lavira, he could see that he was carrying something, a large bouquet of flowers, and what appeared to be a box of candy. He clenched his fist and smashed it into the desk.

"That...that slimy, no good worm! He wants to take my Lavira for himself?" Vrak screamed. He got up off his chair, and headed for the door, storming down the corridor.

In her lab, Lavira was busy working on her love potion. She was quickly finding that it was a lot more complicated than at first she had believed. It had to be heated and cooled at the exact right moments to the exact right temperature. Most of the components were highly volatile, and the whole thing was in danger. The slightest miscalculation could lead to disaster.

"Bloody Finster." She muttered, checking her equations again to make sure everything was within safe limits. "I have one of the most advanced labs in the galaxy...that half-blind goat created this with a petzel and mortar and a clay heating pot? How the hell did he do it?"

She heard an alert, and looked to a computer. It was showing an incoming data feed from Earth on a secure channel...it was from the information hotline dedicated to Ranger sightings. She opened up the feed, seeing the wanted poster of Jake, together with a message from a police station in Portugal, claiming they had him in custody.

"Lavira!" Jealoushitto declared, causing her to jump. She turned to see the Commander standing right behind her.

"Jealoushitto, what...what are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I...um...I...uh..." He stammered. Eventually, he held out the candy. She took it, looking at it curiously.

"I...guess I haven't eaten in a while, thank you for the snack" She told him, putting it aside. "Now, I'm in the middle of something important and..."

"Here, I got you these too!" He declared shoving the flowers towards her. Unfortunately in his nerves, he shoved them straight in her face. Lavira took in a huge whiff of pollen, and immediately started to sneeze.

"Lavira, I'm sorry!" He told her as she turned from him, sneezing powerfully. Her hand inadvertently went through the apparatus on her bench, causing a small explosion. The whole lab was filled with a pink mist, which the emergency air control system quickly drained from the room...but not before Lavira breathed in a while lungful of the vapour. Jealoushitto was quickly by her side, helping her up.

"Lavira, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!" He said as he helped her. "Please be alright, please, say something!"

As she got up, her eyes rested on the computer screen. Jealoushitto could see her face starting to glow pink.

"Jake...Jake..." She started to say dreamily. "That's such a wonderful...heroic name."

"Lavira?" He asked. She held a hand over her chest, feeling her heart beating faster as she stared at his picture. Her eyes rested on the message. He was in custody down on Earth! The humans had captured him and were planning on turning him over to Prince Vekar!

"Jakey!" She declared, before looking to Jealoushitto. She started to think of something, and smiled. "Jealoushitto...you...you are a loyal Commander right?"

"I...I would do anything for you." He said, before realising how it came out. "Um...I mean...for the Empire! I would do anything for the Empire!"

"Well...how about you do a little favour for me?" She asked him, coming closer and looking into his eyes, drawing so close he could feel her breath on his face. He imagined having the courage to lean in and kiss her...it was only a few inches...that was all it would take. "Would you do that? I would be ever so grateful."

Jealoushitto just gave her a goofy smile and nodded enthusiastically.

Back on Earth, in the streets of Porto, Emma had finally caught up with Wayne, and was chasing him through the streets. Although he was older, the same age as her dad, he was still in excellent shape, and was giving her a pretty decent race. She had her morpher out, and was using it to guide the others.

"Gia, he's coming into the main street!" Emma told her. "Where...?"

"I'm on the second floor of the parking structure!" Jordan told her. "Try and flush him towards the grassy knoll!"

"He's seen me across the street." Gia added. "He's heading that way."

"OK, he should be coming around..."

Emma was cut off as she rounded the corner, only to find a foot connecting with her face. She hit the ground hard, and started to rub her jaw. She could already taste blood in her mouth.

"You left yourself open Emma." Wayne taunted her. "That was careless."

"Maybe I just never thought you would hurt me." She told him. "Please, Wayne, we understand why you're upset, but this...this isn't going to help anything!"

"Vrak told me he would cure Mikey of what that...THING did to him!" He snapped at her. She was trying to get up, but he kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind from her. Emma looked up at him and wheezed.

"Wayne, please, stop!" She begged him. "You and dad were best friends for years! No matter how you feel about us...how do you think he'd feel knowing that you're hurting me?"

He paused for a moment as he heard her saying this. He had known Emma most of her life. She could see in his eyes that he was hesitating.

"Do you remember that time I found that stray cat, but mom was allergic, and dad said we couldn't keep her?" Emma told him. "I wouldn't stop crying when they said they were taking her to the pound. I knew that if they didn't find her a home in time, she would be put down. You took her."

"Mittens." He recalled, remembering the incident. "She...she a raggedy old bag of bones if I remember. She was a pathetic looking thing with clumps of fur missing and a crooked tail. I kept her for six years before that car hit her."

Emma looked to him as she finally managed to get to her feet.

"Wayne...I'm sorry about what happened to Mikey, but I do know one thing. Vrak will never keep his word." Emma told him. "If we can, we'll put things right with Mikey, but...we need Tensou back."

Wayne looked to her, seeing his best friend's daughter. She could see he was conflicted, but eventually he just got a cold expression on his face.

"Vrak has Mikey." He told her, shoving her to the ground. That was when Jordan picked his spot. Leaping from the parking structure, he landed on Wayne's back, sprawling him across the ground.

Wayne was a trained bodyguard, and had been Special Forces, so Jordan knew he couldn't be taken lightly. As he tried to get up, Jordan kicked him as hard as he could across the face, knocking him back to the ground. He got on top of him, and started to rain in a few harsh punches across the face. As she arrived, Gia pulled him off.

"OK, Jordan, that's enough, he's out!" Gia told him. She reached into his backpack, pulling out Tensou. The little robot had been shocked out of standby by the commotion. He looked around them in a panic.

"What happened? Who are you people?" Tensou asked them.

"Tensou...we're your friends!" Emma told him.

"Tensou?" He asked. "Who's Tensou?"

"His memory circuits must be messed up." Jordan told them. "I can repair him back at the ship."

"I thought you said he was robust." Gia stated. Jordan just glared at her.

"He survived being struck by lightning and falling 8000 feet." He reminded her. "Do you really think he'd get away from that unscathed?"

"I...guess not." Gia replied. "Anyway, the rest of the guys need our help. Emma, try to contact Jake. Jordan, you carry Tensou."

"Here." Jordan told him as he put Tensou into a backpack. "I promise I'll fix you, we just need to wait a little longer."


	11. Jake's Escape

Jake was in a holding cell, fidgeting and pacing nervously. Jake had always been an active guy, and whenever he got frightened or nervous, his energy levels shot right up. Usually it was for the best he did something to burn that off. If he had a soccer ball with him, even in this tiny cell, he would likely have been practicing a few trick shots or something to keep himself busy. Instead, he had to make do with pacing, and occasionally when he felt the energy building up too much, thrashing out some exercises.

He had already been told that the detective had contacted The Armada's Ranger sighting hotline, and that they were just waiting for someone to come and collect him. Falling into enemy hands was always a terrifying prospect. Most of them had been captured at one time or another, but usually any time they did, they would be held somewhere on Earth. Even Lafitte, when he had taken them captive, had kept them on his ship, but he hadn't taken them off the planet. Usually when they fell into enemy hands, there was a pretty decent chance of a rescue or escape attempt. Knowing that the Megazord didn't have the capacity to go out beyond the moon, where Vekar's ship was in a holding pattern, if he was taken to the ship...he didn't even want to think about that. It all seemed pretty hopeless.

Having taken his possessions when he was arrested, he didn't have his morpher with him. He doubted the average person knew enough about the inner workings of the Power Rangers to know much, if anything, about morphers. Even he had to admit not knowing how Rangers changed into...well...Rangers...before Gosei had plucked him from the Brainfreeze that day. The cops probably didn't know that keeping his cell phone away from him was the reason he hadn't just morphed and escaped, they just knew that something they were doing without realising it was keeping him in the building while they waited for some Armada Troops to turn up and take him away, leaving them all millions richer.

So far, the only saving grace was that he had a cell to himself. He could hear some pretty disturbing things from other cells and knew that they were already pushing their holding limits. It was likely it wasn't out of any real concern for his welfare, they just wanted to make sure that when The Armada came to collect him, he was in good condition to encourage a full reward.

He racked his brains trying to come up with an escape plan. He wished he was more like Noah or Gia at this point. So far, all he had come up with was the ancient and cliché "guard, I feel sick" plan...and that had only resulted in someone shouting at him that there was a bucket in the corner. He had to admit, he was starting to think he might use it at some point.

As he was considering trying the "I'm sick" line one more time, hoping that someone in the station had never seen a police show, he heard someone coming down the hall. He didn't hear any sounds of battle, or any blasting, so he doubted it was any of his friends, it wasn't a rescue party. Had they waited too long? Was this it? He saw the sergeant from earlier coming into view through the bars.

"OK, what is it?" Jake asked. The cop went to the camera, reaching up and pulling out a power cable. Jake just looked to him curiously as he came across, looking around for signs he was being watched. As he came over, he reached inside his shirt. Jake started to back away, but he relaxed as he saw him pull out a Ranger comic. More than a few companies took advantage of the fact that strictly speaking, no one owned a copyright on the images of the Rangers and published comics based on them. It wasn't like they could be sued, and the fact was Ranger merchandise always sold well. He pulled out a pen and approached the bars nervously.

"My daughter...she is six." The sergeant told him in broken English. Although most people on the continent spoke English well, some spoke it better than others. He looked to the cop as he fidgeted nervously. "You...you are her favourite. She...she likes you. She has your posters. Would you...sign this?"

He slipped the comic and the pen between the bars. Jake just looked more than a little stunned by this turn of events.

"Wait, are you serious?" Jake asked him incredulously. "First, you turn me in, then you expect me to give you an autograph?"

"Please, it would mean so much to her." The sergeant told him, pulling in closer. "I want to help you. My girl, she would never forgive me if she knew I gave you to the monsters."

This made Jake let up a little. He took the comic and the pen, signing his name, together with a short message dedicating it to his biggest fan.

"Where's my stuff?" Jake asked.

"It is on the detective's desk." The Sergeant told him. "The monsters, they asked that we turn over anything you were carrying. It is on his desk, near the door."

"Fine, then let me out of here." Jake told him. The Sergeant shook his head as he put the comic away.

"I can't. If they know I helped you, I would be arrested...or worse." He told Jake. The Green Ranger wanted to protest, but he had to admit that he had a point.

"So what do you suggest?" Jake asked. "I can't exactly reach my stuff from here."

The sergeant pulled out a tennis ball, and slipped it through the bars, handing it to Jake, who just looked more confused than ever.

"My daughter show me many of your videos on Youtube." He told him. He flicked his eyes towards the opposite wall. Jake followed his gaze, seeing a switch on the wall. He looked back to the Sergeant as he realised what he was getting at. "Give me five minutes to get back to my position."

"Thank you." Jake replied. The Sergeant left the room; Jake just started to count down in his head the time until he made his move.

Up in the mountains, Noah and Orion were locked in a fierce battle with Sirjinktor. Both of them had resorted to Legendary Mode. Currently, Noah was in Time Force Blue mode, while Orion had plumped for the Solaris Knight. Sirjinktor was powerful enough in and of himself, neither of them even wanted to imagine what would happen if he managed to absorb the power of Vrak's crystal.

"Hey guys, glad you could make it!" Noah responded as he was thrown to the ground by a power blast. "Now if you wouldn't mind..."

"What's that thing?" Jordan asked.

"Big Ugly here said it's some kind of power crystal Vrak made." Noah told them. "Once that device finishes powering it up, it'll increase the power of any monster..."

Before he finished, Jordan had levelled his blaster at it, turning his Ranger Key in the lock and opened fire. With a huge explosion that rocked the mountain and threatened to deafen the Rangers, the crystal and the Powermid disappeared in a huge fireball.

"The crystal!" Sirjinktor screamed in anguish. "All that power...gone!"

"Um...why didn't we think of that?" Orion asked, staring at the crater.

"You're welcome." Jordan replied, adopting a cocky little stance. "So...Time Force huh?"

"Well, we've not used them yet." Noah replied.

"Well I guess that's as good a reason as any!" Gia replied as the others all followed suit, adopting the Time Force powers.

"Time Force Strike!" Gia, Noah, Jordan and Emma all called out, sending power waves his way. Orion pulled out the Quantum Defender.

"Quantum Defender!" Orion added, firing his weapon on full power. They watched as Sirjinktor fell to the ground, smoking, but started to pull himself back up.

"That...that should have done it!" Gia protested. "What happened?"

"Wait...something about this seems familiar." Tensou said from a safe distance, where Jordan had set down the backpack they were carrying him in. "But...weren't there more of you?"

"Wait a minute...where's Jake?" Emma asked. They all looked around, and realised she had a point. In all the confusion, they had somehow missed the fact that somewhere, they had gotten separated from Jake.

"We can't worry about that now." Gia stated as they powered down from Time Force. "Orion, power up your Gold Mode, we need to make this quick and find Jake!"

As the others ran into battle, Orion powered up into Gold Mode, gripping his spear tightly.

"He's strong!" Emma commented as they fought with him. She parried the blow, but the force still sent her staggering back, falling to one knee. She started firing at him with her blaster.

"Even without that crystal he's giving us a run for our money." Jordan agreed, trying to disarm him, only for Sirjinktor to throw him to the ground with a flick of his wrist. "Any time you're ready Orion!"

"Sixth Ranger Power Final Strike!" The others all threw themselves clear as Orion unleashed the power of all the Sixth Rangers, rushing straight at Sirjinktor. By the time it was over, Orion fell to his knees, exhausted, and a large, black trench was scorched into the ground, but Sirjinktor was gone.

"Nice job Orion." Noah complimented him.

"Orion...that...that sounds familiar." Tensou started to say. Jordan picked up the backpack as they all demorphed. "I'm sorry..."

"His self-repair system must be working, but it's struggling." Jordan told them. "He might need a helping hand."

"Well, Jake probably does too." Emma told them, putting away her morpher. "I just tried again, there's no answer."

"His morpher's on though." Gia told them, checking the tracing function. "We can still find him."

"So what do we do now?" Noah asked. Gia thought about it for a moment, before looking around the team.

"Noah, you and Jordan get Tensou back to the ship and see what you can do about fixing him." She told them. "But keep in touch. The last thing we need is anyone else going missing."

She then looked to Emma and Orion.

"The two of you are with me." She told them. Orion just looked to her a little uncertainly. He still felt badly about the whole situation. When she had sent him away before, he was sure she held some kind of grudge against him.

"Really?" He asked. "You want me to go with you?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Gia asked him. "After this, I don't want to lose any more members of my team. The only reason Noah and Jordan are going is because they know more about repairing Tensou than we do, and we know they'll be on the ship."

He looked to Gia, and felt a little better, nodding in agreement, but as he caught a look at Emma, he could see that she wasn't quite as happy about it. This was a blow; Emma was the one that had done the most to accept him onto the team. She was the one that had gone out of her way to understand his odd ways. It seemed like Gia hadn't had a chance to think much about what caused the dispute with Tensou, but from what Orion had heard, it seemed like what set Tensou off was when Emma repeated what he had said about Gia, not knowing what it meant. Obviously she had figured out something wasn't right. He knew he had messed up badly if Emma was pulling away from him.

"We'll go and find Jake." Gia told the others.

"Wait, what about Kira?" Jordan asked. "She should be getting into the city..."

"We can worry about that later." Gia told him. "Man, I hate how regularly I'm saying that. Come on; let's find Jake before he gets himself into any trouble."

At that moment, Jake was in his cell, sizing things up. He was trying to get a feel for the distance between the bars of his cell, the distance to the opposite wall, the angles of the corners. He bounced the ball a couple more times, before setting it down, and taking a step or two back.

"This'll be the trick shot of a lifetime." He remarked as he took a quick step, and kicked the ball hard. It flew through between the bars, rebounded off a wall, and hit the switch on the other side...the release to the cell door! He heard the lock trip, and the door slid open a little. He smiled as he saw this. "Ha! And all those teachers said I wasted my life!"

As he left his cell, he headed back to the door into the main office. He knew he'd have to move quickly if he was going to get through the main office and out the door. He opened the door ajar, and saw that true to what the Sergeant had told him, the plastic bag of his belongings was sitting on the desk near the door.

"Alright, time to go!" Jake said as he opened the door quietly, sneaking over to the desk. As he picked up the bag though, he heard a commotion out the front.

"Yes, of course, he's right this way." He heard the detective saying.

"He better be for your sake." He heard another voice say. Just then, he saw Jealoushitto and some X-borgs walking into the room with the detective. "My mistress is eager to speak to him."

"Your mistress?" The detective asked. "I thought you were collecting the prisoner for the Prince?"

"Oh...um..." Jealoushitto started to stammer. "I mean...yes...I just meant that I'm taking him to our interrogator to find out any information we can on his friends."

"Well...the reward?" The detective asked him. Jealoushitto just started shifting a little uncomfortably.

"Oh...well...I don't have it on me, but the Prince will be more than happy to arrange delivery." He stammered. "Um...we just need to make sure he's in our custody safe and sound!"

"He is perfectly safe here." The detective replied impatiently. "I have delivered on my end of the deal..."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Jake called out. They all turned to see him holding his morpher. He could see they were standing between him and the door, if he wanted to get past them; he was going to have to get creative and fast! He morphed into the Crimson Ninja Storm Ranger.

"Get him!" Jealoushitto yelled. "He mustn't get away! Lavira commands it!"

As the X-borgs approached, Jake threw some smoke bombs onto the floor. As the room filled with smoke, he darted through the station in the confusion. As he got to the door, he powered down, thinking that it was more likely he'd get lost in the crowd in civilian mode. He looked back, just in time to see Jealoushitto and the X-borgs coming out of the station.

"There he is!" Jealoushitto called out. "Remember, Lavira wants him unharmed!"

"Wherever you are guys, this would be a great time to show up!" Jake muttered as he broke into a run.


	12. Love Confuses Everything

**A/N:** Sorry for the hiatus...but this time there WAS a reason! Here in the UK, Nicktoons are now showing five episodes of Super Megaforce a week! Monday "Love is in the Air" aired, and I wanted to wait on the episode for research. As a warning, the UK will overtake the US airing schedule soon, and I may venture into future episodes, but I promise to post spoiler warnings in this instance. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Jake ran from the army of X-borgs as fast as he could, but they wouldn't let up. Everywhere he turned, there seemed to be more of them. They were springing up everywhere as he tried to find a path to safety. He knew that they wanted to bring him in, but this was more than he had ever imagined.

"Jake?" Emma asked as he rounded a corner.

"Out of the way!" He called back as he ran past. She, Gia and Orion all stepped aside as a huge group of X-borgs ran past, seemingly not even noticing they were there.

"Move it!" Jealoushitto yelled as he pushed his way through them. "Get him! She wants him alive!"

"Uh...OK that's weird!" Emma commented.

"Come on, Jake needs help!" Gia responded as they morphed, running after Jake and the Armada troops. They eventually found him as he got cornered in a food court, and had to start fighting them off.

"Don't harm him; she wants him in one piece!" Jealoushitto warned the X-borgs as Jake morphed. "What my Lavira wants, she gets!"

Don't worry Jake, we're here!" Emma added as she and the others ran into battle. "We'll take...uh...what?"

She just looked around confused as the X-borgs ran past her, not even trying to attack her. They'd already come to terms with the fact that robots were very different from biological creatures. While the Loogies had a survival instinct, and would defend themselves when attacked, if the X-borgs were ordered to, they would march headlong into an artillery barrage without so much as a covering shot if they were locked onto an objective.

"They...they aren't even trying to attack us!" Orion added as he sliced through a couple of the robots, while the others just ran past him.

"Hey, over here!" Gia called out as they ran away from her. "Uh...hello? You've been trying to kill us all year?"

"They're only going after Jake!" Emma pointed out.

"Why do they want to capture just me?" Jake asked as he fired a couple of shots from his blaster, taking down some X-borgs, before taking to heel and running as they tried to surround him. He knew he couldn't afford to let them get a hold of him.

"We can use that to our advantage!" Gia told them, blasting some more down. "We can gun them down without them even attacking back!"

"Not many of them left!" Emma added as she cut down some more.

"That's the last of them!" Orion added as he threw his Silver Spear through one of them.

"My Lavira will not be denied!" Jealoushitto screamed at them. "The Green Ranger will be mine!"

"Lavira, you want Jake for Lavira?" Gia asked him.

"That's what my Love wants!" Jealoushitto responded.

"Your...your love?" Emma asked. "And once she gets him, what do you think will happen for you?"

"I...well...I...um..." Jealoushitto started to stammer. He paused to think about this for a while. He hadn't thought about it until now. Lavira had asked him to get Jake, to bring him to her. He knew that it wasn't for the Prince; she had made it clear he was to bring Jake to HER, not to anyone else.

"Your running buddies are scrap metal!" Jake pointed out. "If you want to take us on..."

"I'm a lover, not a fighter!" He called back.

"A lover whose girlfriend sent him out to kidnap her another guy to date?" Gia asked him.

"I...SHUT UP!" He screamed. He fired off a flame blast, which knocked all of them off their feet. By the time the flames subsided, he was gone. The Rangers all powered down.

"Well, that was weird." Orion commented.

"Lavira wants Jake?" Gia asked.

"Oh, I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking." Jake added sarcastically. "I just escaped from police custody, and got attacked by what feels like half the Armada..."

"Why do you think that guy was after Jake?" Orion asked, ignoring Jake's comments.

"He said he was doing it for her." Gia answered.

"But if she's into Jake, and that monster's into her...why would he want to bring Jake back?" Orion asked.

"Sometimes love makes you do strange things." Emma told him. "Things that other people might not think make much sense."

Orion caught a tone in her voice, and a glare from her as she said this. He knew exactly what she meant by that. He knew that he still had to answer for the whole Tensou situation.

"Guys, we got Jake, and we've got Tensou, that's what we came for." Gia reminded them. "Let's take this back to the Red Galleon. We're drawing attention."

With that, they all left the scene, knowing that this was unlikely to be the end of the matter. If Lavira had tried to get Jake before, she was only going to try again.

Back on The Armada Command Ship, Jealoushitto teleported into Lavira's lab, fining her working on Argus. She turned around, beaming brightly, but the smile quickly faded from her face.

"My...my Jakey poo? Where is he?" She asked. "I asked you to..."

"I know what you asked me, and I know why!" Jealoushitto roared, overturning a work bench as he approached her. "You used me to get him!"

"I want..."

"I know very well what you want! What about what I want?" He screamed at her. "What about my feelings, do you care about them at all?"

"I love..."

"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!" Jealoushitto screamed as he grabbed her, ramming her against the wall. He brought the back of his hand across her face hard. "I love you! I've always loved you and this is how you treat me? You use me and expect me to bring you that little...MAN?"

"Get your hands OFF her!" Prince Vekar declared as he arrived. He grabbed Jealoushitto, launching him across the room. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Lavira..."

"How DARE you lay your hands on her?" Prince Vekar declared. Jealoushitto got up, and flames started to burn around him.

"I WILL win your heart Lavira!" He declared. "Once I've eliminated the competition, you won't have a choice but to come running back into my arms!"

With that, he disappeared. Prince Vekar helped Lavira up.

"What was he talking about?" He asked her. "Why did he attack you like this?"

"He...he believes..."

"He desires you, and you turned him down?" Vekar asked. He pulled out a handkerchief as he saw her lip was bleeding. She took it gratefully.

"I did." She replied. "He believes..."

"No one will harm you like that again!" Prince Vekar told her. "That, I promise!"

With that, he stormed out of the room. Lavira went to her computer to check on things on Earth.

"Jakey poo, where are you my darling?" She asked.

On a private jet, on its way to Porto, Kira was working on some lyrics, while Cat was taking some sketches of her, working on a possible album cover. The co-pilot headed into the cabin with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry, but we're re-routing the plane." He told Kira. She just looked at him.

"Um...OK, where to?" She asked.

"Well, Amsterdam." He responded. Kira looked confused.

"So, how am I meant to get from Amsterdam to Porto for the concert tonight?" She asked.

"Well...you aren't." He replied. "I'm sorry, your manager ordered us to detour, he's cancelled your gig."

"What?" Kira asked. "Why?

"Well, the thing is, the Rangers showed up in Porto, and brought a whole shit storm with them." He replied. "Two monsters have attacked the city today alone..."

"Whatever, just...get us there quick." Kira muttered. He went back to the cockpit, leaving Kira and Cat alone in the cabin.

"The Rangers showed up in Porto?" Cat asked.

"It seems so yes." Kira replied. "Sorry you aren't going to get to see your ex in action."

"Sorry about the concert." Cat replied. Kira just sighed.

"Not as sorry as the fans will be." She replied. "Bloody monsters! At least in my day they only attacked one city."

"Your day?" Cat asked. Kira just looked at her.

"Uh...yeah...I went to High School in Reefside remember?" Kira asked. "Senior year was when the Dino Thunder team were active?"

"Oh yeah, the second Dinosaur team." Cat commented. "I wonder when there'll be another."

"I'm not sure it works like that." Kira responded. "Anyway, let's have a look at those sketches. We're going to be in the air a little longer by the sounds of things."

Back on the Red Galleon, Jordan and Noah were working on Tensou when the others arrived. Jordan put down a needle screwdriver as he saw them.

"How's the patient?" Gia asked.

"He's not as messed up as I thought." Jordan told them. "In fact, I think I actually managed to fix his tracking software."

"You mean the tracking software that's been glitching out all year?" Emma asked.

"The same tracking software that meant we've had to smash him over the head any time we needed a clue?" Jake asked.

"Yeah...that would be the one." Jordan replied.

"Wow, you fixed that right when we don't need it anymore." Gia teased him. "I'm sure Tensou will be glad to know we didn't have to smash his head in all year."

"Well, the good news is Tensou will be back online soon." Noah told them. "The bad news is Kira's concert has been cancelled."

"Again?" Emma asked. He just nodded.

"It seems her manager was concerned for her safety after the last couple of monster attacks." Noah responded. "I guess that's kind of our fault."

"Great, so she's slipped away AGAIN!" Gia said in an exhausted tone. Just then, they heard an alarm.

"Great, what now?" Noah asked.

"Hey, it looks like your love rival's back." Emma teased Jake.

"Love rival?" Noah asked.

"Yeah, it seems Lavira's developed something of a crush on Jake." Gia told him with a little smile.

"Come on guys, it's not funny!" Jake replied. Jordan just wiped some tears from his eyes.

"I beg to differ." He chuckled. They all looked at the footage.

"Come and face me you coward!" Jealoushitto roared as flames licked round his frame. "My love has turned into a burning rage! I'll destroy everything and everyone until you face me!"

"I guess you get to duel for the maiden's honour." Emma teased him.

"Will you guys just quit it?" Jake asked. "Let's just get this over with."

Back in the city, Jealoushitto was laying waste to everything in his path, his jealousy and rage erupting into an inferno around his body as he ploughed through the city. The Rangers arrived on the scene, morphed and ready for action.

"So, you had the courage to show up?" Jealoushitto asked him. "I'll prove I'm the one Lavira should..."

"You can have her!" Jake called back. "I don't want her!"

"You...you...HOW DARE YOU!" He screamed, firing a flame blast at them. Lavira appeared between Jealoushitto and the Rangers, deflecting the blast.

"NO!" She yelled at him. "You will not harm my Jakey poo!"

"Jakey poo?" Jordan sniggered. Jake just elbowed him in the gut.

"You are incompetent and idiotic! Why would I ever want you when I can have a real man like my Jakey poo?"

Jordan started chuckling again, at which they all stared at him.

"OK, shutting up now!" He assured them.

"Why must you be so cruel?" He said as tears ran down his face. "I've always loved you, and this is the thanks I get...If I can't have you, then neither can he!"

He launched a fireball at her, blasting her into a building. He rushed in as the dust settled to continue the attack.

"Should we...like...interfere or something?" Noah asked.

"Whichever one loses, it's got to be a good thing for us right?" Jordan asked.

"We should do something right?" Emma asked.

"Well, what side are we on?" Gia asked. In truth, none of them really knew. Both of them were Armada Commanders, both of them would destroy the Rangers without a second thought! Before they could answer though, Lavira's charred; broken form landed a short way from them. Jealoushitto was making his way towards her when there was a bright flash of light. All of the Rangers just watched as Prince Vekar appeared, holding a sword. He looked to Lavira, seeing that she was badly injured, before looking to him.

"You dare to do that to her?" He asked. "You DARE?"

"This is between us!" Jealoushitto told him. Vekar just glared at him.

"It WAS between you." He replied. "Now, it's between US!"

The Rangers could only watch as he rushed to the attack, hacking into Jealoushitto in a fury that defied belief.

"OK, now I'm REALLY confused." Orion stated.

"Jakey..." Lavira croaked out. He made his way over, kneeling next to her. "Jakey poo...you're here to save me..."

"Look, I don't know how you got this idea into your head, but...I'm not into you!" Jake replied.

"But...but my heart only beats for you!" She told him. "I can't help how I feel! I need you!"

"Sorry, but genocidal maniacs really aren't my type." He told her.

"Genocidal?" She asked.

"You know, the small matter of wiping out Andresia?" He asked.

"Is that why you don't want me?" She asked him, smiling a little. "I'm so relieved, you don't know the truth...we never wiped them out my darling."

"We know you did!" Jake replied. "Orion told us! He's the only one..."

"Because of their strength, Andresians are highly sought after as slaves." She told him. "Lafitte took the survivors of our raid and sold them as slaves."

Jake couldn't say anything, just staring at her. They heard an explosion, which ripped his attention away from Lavira, and looked up to see Vekar standing over the crater where Jealoushitto had been standing. He turned around, seeing Jake holding Lavira.

"Get your hands off her!" He warned Jake.

"Um...sure thing!" Jake responded, letting her go and backing away.

"Jakey poo?" She asked. "What are you doing?"

"I told you, I don't like you!" Jake responded.

"But...but I told you..."

"I don't care what you told me, I don't LIKE YOU!" Jake snapped. Lavira felt her heart stop beating as she heard this. Tears ran down her face.

"You...you hate me?" She asked. Jake rolled his eyes.

"I thought you were the brains of your outfit, FINALLY you get it!" Jake replied. "Yes, I hate you! I always have, and I always will, and while I don't know what made you crush on me, I don't really care because the way you've been fawning over me is pathetic!"

Vekar powered up the blade of his sword, and cast out a power wave, smashing Jake into a wall, which crumbled under the impact. He went to Lavira, helping her up.

"It is lucky for all of you I need to rest after my battle." He told them, holding her closely. "Next time we meet, I will make you suffer for your insults!"

With that, they both disappeared. Jordan just shook his head as he pointed to where they had been standing.

"Uh...that just happened right?" He asked. "Vekar likes Lavira?"

"Yeah, that's all we need." Jake muttered. "A bunch of baby Vekars running around."

"Come on, there's nothing else we can do here." Gia stated. "Let's get back to the ship."

Meanwhile, up on the Armada Command Ship, Lavira was in the infirmary, being tended to by medical droids. Prince Vekar was standing by her bedside, watching as they worked on her.

"Her armour took the worst of the damage." One of the droids assured him. "There was also some form of toxin in her system, we believe that is what caused her infatuation with the Green Ranger, but we have synthesised an antidote."

"But she'll be alright won't she?" He asked.

"She will require some rest and recuperation, but she will make a full recovery." The droid assured him. Prince Vekar breathed a sigh of relief.

He made his way over to her side, taking Lavira's hand in his. He looked down to her.

"Lavira, you're going to be just fine." He assured her. She just looked up to him, feeling his hand in hers and despite the pain, she just smiled. He stroked her cheek tenderly with his hand. "I promise, no one will ever harm you like this again."

With that, he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.


	13. Orion's Lesson

On the Red Galleon, Noah and Jordan were in the lab, working on a few side projects for the fights to come. After the latest battles, they knew they needed something to tip things a little in their favour. It wasn't as though they hadn't done well; there was room to improve matters. On two separate occasions now, they had just missed out on finding Kira, being marginally too late as her management team took her out of the danger zone for her own safety. They were a couple of steps behind, and needed to make sure they didn't miss out again. The Dino Thunder Keys were the only ones they still needed to collect, and while none of them were really sure what they had to do once they had them, that was a secondary thought right now.

"Well, we tracked down Kira's next tour date." Gia announced. "Thursday at the SSE Hydro arena in Glasgow."

"Glasgow...as in Scotland?" Jake asked.

"No, Glasgow as in Timbuktu!" Gia replied sarcastically, looking over to where Jordan and Noah were working. "So, what are you two working on?"

"I'm trying to figure out the power distribution problem on the cannon." Noah told her. "I figured I'd start with something a LITTLE smaller, so I've used some spare blaster parts to try out the possibility of using TWO Ranger keys."

"Two Power Locks, so you can use two keys and double the power?" Emma asked. "Will that work?"

"I guess we'll find out in a couple of days." Noah replied with a shrug. "If I keep up at this pace, it should be ready to test in a few days time."

"So how's Tensou?" Emma asked Jordan. Orion looked up as he heard them say this. He knew that it wouldn't be long before the others found out what had caused the whole incident in the first place. Tensou had only attacked him over what he said about Gia. He was fiercely defensive about his team, even if the ones he was defending them from happened to be each other.

"He should be fine." Jordan told them. "In fact, you can ask him yourself, in about..."

"Guys." Orion called out, interrupting them. "Um...there's...there's something you all need to know about, something about the night Tensou was damaged."

"OK, what is it?" Gia asked. Orion just started to shift a little awkwardly.

"Um...can we get some privacy?" Orion asked Gia. "It's kind of...it's something to do with...uh...can I possibly talk to you in private?"

"Why would you want that?" Emma asked, crossing her arms defensively. "If we didn't know any better we might think you had something to be ashamed of."

"OK...what gives?" Jake asked.

"Is there something going on here?" Noah asked. Orion just sighed.

"Guys, please." Orion told them. "I really would like to talk to Gia alone."

"We don't have any secrets here." Gia told him, looking to Emma. She could see the way Emma was looking at Orion; it was the look no one really wanted to see from her, the one that suggested she was ready to seriously hurt someone. She had noticed that things were a little frosty between Emma and Orion, but seeing this, she could only think of one thing that would make her react like that. Obviously it was something to do with her. Emma only got that way when she was defending one of her friends. "So, what is it?"

"The thing is...I know why Tensou went after me like that." He told them. "The thing is, it's about something I said...something I said about Gia."

Gia just breathed a sigh as she heard this. It wasn't exactly the first time she had to deal with something like this. Although she'd been on the run so long that she didn't really spend much time around anyone other than the Rangers, she had heard more than a few comments at High School once news of her sexuality broke.

"Up on the deck." She told Orion. "The rest of you stay down here."

"Gia..."

"It'll be fine!" She interrupted Emma. She just pointed to the stairs, at which Orion turned and headed out onto the deck. Gia followed him, shutting the hatch behind her. She stood, staring at him. "Alright, start talking."

Orion just started pacing. He was more than a little nervous under Gia's gaze.

"Um...well...the thing is...where do I begin?"

"How about I help you there?" Gia asked him. "What exactly does Kruchiken mean?"

Orion flinched a little, hearing her say this word. She could tell from his reaction that he knew exactly why that would have set Tensou off.

"Well...the thing is..."

"I'm guessing it isn't exactly something complimentary." Gia interrupted him. "So go ahead, what is it?"

"It's...complicated." Orion began. "When I hurt myself the other day, when I bailed on that Parkour course Jake set up, Emma took me to her room to clean me up. When I was there, I saw a whole load of her pictures."

"She likes surrounding herself with pictures that make her happy." Gia answered. "Since Troy left, she kind of likes reminding herself of stuff that makes her happy."

"Well, the thing is, I saw one of her pictures, one of you and...your ex." He explained. "It...it was a little bit of a surprise."

"So, what does it mean?" Gia asked him. Orion looked decidedly uncomfortable. "What, you're uncomfortable all of a sudden? You were comfortable enough to say it in the first place, why don't you say it to my face?"

"There...I don't really know the English word for it, but probably the closest word for it is..." He paused for a moment, taking a huge gulp. "Pervert."

Gia just continued to stare at him.

"Gia, please it was..."

"You know, I expect this from other people. I'm just about used to it by now." Gia told him. "But the one place I thought I'd be safe, the one place I thought I wouldn't have to put up with this shit is with my friends."

"Gia..."

"This is my home Orion!" Gia said coldly. "I don't have much here. I have the few personal items in my room; I have a room that's barely big enough to string up a hammock in...I have to share a bathroom with five people!"

"Gia, I'm sorry." He told her.

"Don't just say you're sorry and think that'll make it alright!" Gia told him. "The one thing I had was that I knew that everyone on this ship were my friends, my family! People I could always trust to have my back!"

"Gia, you...you can." Orion told her. He just sat down, leaning back against the side wall. He held his face in his hands. "Look, I'll admit, this was old habits speaking. It was a surprise, something I didn't expect."

"Do you think that excuses...?"

"I...I know I shouldn't have said it." Orion told her. He looked up. "Look, you all know I'm different. Things in my village were pretty...well...set in their ways. Things were done a certain way, and..."

"And they were a bunch of judgemental jackasses?" Gia asked him. Orion wasn't happy hearing her talk about his friends and family like that, but he could understand it was coming from a place of anger. He just nodded.

"I guess you could say they were." Orion told her. "Gia, I know none of this excuses what I say, but...this was just the way they were. These were the people I grew up with, that I learned from for most of my life."

Gia just sat down, glaring at him.

"Noah and I heard a song on the radio before. It was about some guy that asked a man if he could marry his daughter." Orion continued.

"OK, now you've lost me." Gia told him.

"In the song, the girl's father refused him permission. The guy just said he thought it was rude and told him he'd marry her anyway." Orion told her, starting to wring his hands together. "I didn't get that. Where I grew up, people were generally matched up by their parents. Arranged marriages were the norm. The few that did defy their parents' wishes usually moved away to the big cities. They were pretty much shunned and run out of town."

"I'm guessing the same was true of people who were gay." Gia responded. Orion just nodded sadly.

"I still remember the jokes my friends used to tell, the things we used to say about them." Orion said. "Thinking about it now, I can't believe some of the things we said."

"Orion..."

"Gia, it's not an excuse, but I got to know you before I saw that picture." Orion told her. "I got to see how strong you are, how much your team means to you...in a lot of ways you remind me a lot of my old friends back home. It's one of the reasons I think we became friends so quickly."

"So what now?" Gia asked him. Orion just took a deep breath.

"What I said...that's some of the stuff that was just the way things were back home..."

"I didn't ask what your friends and family would have thought of me Orion, I've never met them! What they think doesn't matter to me." She interrupted him. "What you think does."

"I'm just really confused right now." Orion told her. "I mean, some of the things I've seen here are against a lot of the things I was taught, some of the things I believed in, but...but you...you're the kind of person I really want to be friends with. You're still the same person I knew before all of this came about. You're nothing like..."

"Like what people said gay people were like in your village?" Gia asked him. Orion just nodded.

"Is everything I learned wrong?" He asked her. Gia just looked to him.

"Not necessarily everything." She responded softly. "Stereotypes can be like that. Not every gay person is the same any more than every straight person is. Jake's Jewish, but that doesn't mean I think he's going to become an accountant or a lawyer. Noah's into science, but that doesn't mean I think he's some kind of closet Trekkie with a cupboard full of Star Trek uniforms!"

Orion just looked just looked to her as she said this.

"I can't claim I'm happy about what you said. It hurts Orion." She admitted. "I get enough of that crap from other people. I really want to think of you as a friend."

"We were friends before, and I guess not all of the stuff I believe in makes sense to you, but you've never once judged me because of it." Orion told her. "I guess...I just have to think about some of the stuff I was taught growing up. I guess I don't have all the answers. I guess as long as no one's being harmed, and you're not trying to stop anyone else living their lives the way they choose, then people should have the right to live as they see fit."

"You know, I think we're going to be fine." Gia replied, smiling at him. "And for what it's worth, you might not be from here, but I know a lot of Earthlings that could really learn from you."

Just then, Jake came up to the deck.

"Um...Emma wanted to know if everything's alright up here." Jake told them. "Actually, she wanted to come up herself, but...we didn't think that would be a good idea."

"That's probably for the best." Orion told him. "I have a feeling I might have just had a little accident and gone overboard."

"We're good." Gia assured Jake. "We had something to work out, but I think we're getting there."

"Oh...well...Jordan says he's finished with Tensou." Jake continued, gesturing down the stairs. "We're just about to power him back up."

"Well, let's see what he has to tell us." Gia responded as Orion got to his feet, and offered her a hand to get up. He pulled her to her feet, at which they headed back down into the main room.

As they got there, they found Jordan just finishing up with the last of his adjustments, closing up Tensou's head cavity. He started to screw down the service panel. Orion could see Emma still glaring at him.

"It's OK Emma, we worked it out." Gia assured her. Emma didn't look particularly convinced. Orion guessed he couldn't really blame her, she had repeated what he had said, inadvertently insulting Gia, completely oblivious to what she had said about her.

"We talked about it." Orion told her. "I promise I'll be a lot more careful about what I say in future."

"You better be." Emma told him. Gia just went to her side, holding her.

"OK, Emma, just calm down." Gia told her. "We all have to work together remember? Orion knows he made a mistake and he's working to correct it."

"Well...alright then." Emma muttered. "But don't let it happen again. Do remember we usually cruise around 8000 feet, and you aren't built like Tensou."

"Speaking of which, time for the moment of truth." Jordan stated as he took a step back. "Do you have the recorder Emma?"

"I've got it on standby." Emma assured him, pulling the recorder out of her pocket.

"Alright then, let's hear what he has to say." Jordan replied. "Power up!"

Tensou's eyes lit up, and he raised up on his feet, his wings spreading out.

"A veil of secrecy will be torn asunder,  
On the search for the Keys of the Dino Thunder,  
Find the location by the side,  
Of the historic River Clyde,  
Finding the key bearer will not be the difficult part,  
To approach her, follow the path of the Heart."

Tensou shook his head as he started to come around.

"Um...OK, that was...enlightening." Jake replied. "What did we learn exactly?"

"Well, River Clyde...that runs through Glasgow, and the SSE Hydro arena's pretty much on the edge of it." Noah confirmed. "So, that confirms we're going to Glasgow."

"Which also confirms that it's Kira we're looking for." Gia replied with a little smile. They all stared at her. "What? The poem called the Key Bearer 'her'. Kira was the only girl on her team, and she's going to be in Glasgow!"

"So...I guess you WON'T be taking your autograph book with you?" Emma teased her. Gia just shoved her playfully.

"What do you think it meant about...following the path of the heart?" Jordan asked. Tensou finally shook free the cob webs.

"Uh...what happened? I feel funny." He stated. He looked to the others.

"Welcome back Tensou." Jake greeted him. "You just gave us another poem! Not bad for a guy that was struck by lightning."

"I...I did?" Tensou asked. "But I just woke up. I was never..."

He just glared at Jordan.

"You fixed my tracking software?" He asked. Jordan just looked at him a little sheepishly.

"When I was working on you anyway..."

"You mean...you could have done that at ANY TIME?" Tensou screamed angrily. "I've spent all year being smashed over the head because of your botched programming for nothing?"

"To be fair, I was stuck in the Library." Jordan reminded him.

Tensou just flew into him at speed, knocking Jordan off his feet, before pecking him frantically, screaming obscenities at him. Gia just shook her head.

"I'll set a course for Glasgow." She told them. "Just...make sure Tensou doesn't hurt him too much. We have no idea what we'll have to face next."

**A/N:** I just wanted to delay the beginning of the next arc a little bit longer to allow the episode to air. It airs in the US this Saturday...and having seen it, I can attest, it's pretty darned entertaining! More coming soon.


	14. A Lethal Cold

On The Armada Command Ship, Lavira was in her lab, working on her repairs to Argus. She was humming dreamily as she did so, and had a massive smile on her face. It had only been a few days since her injuries at Jealoushitto's hands, but right now, she had more than just The Armada's impressive medical technology to assist her recovery. Despite still having a number of huge burns across her body, she had more than a little bounce, and a skip in her step. She didn't even notice as Damaras entered her lab.

"Well, things seem to be working out for you." He said in a sneer.

"Good things come to those who wait." She told him with a huge grin.

"You really think you're something special don't you?" He asked her. "Just because the Prince has a brief infatuation with you, you really believe you are anything more than some glorified...wrench wench?"

"You better watch what you say around me in future." Lavira told him. "My Vrak doesn't like it when people insult his cuddle-bun."

"Cuddle-bun?" Damaras asked sceptically, looking at her a little disgusted. He was glad that his digestive system was now almost entirely mechanical. If he'd had his biological stomach, he was sure he'd have lost his breakfast.

"And don't you forget it." Lavira warned him. Just then, her communicator bleeped. She answered it, seeing that it was Vrak. "Speak of my Mighty Prince...I'm here my..."

They both stumbled as there was a massive rumble, and the whole ship shook. Lavira had to hold tightly to the console to stop herself falling over.

"What was that?" Damaras demanded, steadying himself against Argus' repair station. "Bridge, what caused that?"

"We don't know Sir!" One of the droids answered. "There's nothing out there! There are no ships on the scanners!"

"Then what attacked us?" He asked. The whole ship shook again, only this time they were prepared for it. Lavira finally looked to the screen on her communicator, and saw Vrak on the screen...but he didn't look as he should. He was lying in bed, bundled up in blankets, and most of his nose and cheek region was a bright pink.

"Lavira!" He called through.

"My love, what is wrong?" She asked him.

"I...I don't know...aaaatchOOOOOOO!"

As he sneezed, the whole ship shuddered, and items fell off the shelves in Lavira's lab. She resumed her place by the console. The mystery of the attack on the ship had been solved. It wasn't an attack at all. At least, not an intentional one.

"You're sick?" She asked him. "My sweetums, how is that possible? Your carer droids always immunise you against any viruses in circulation while you sleep!"

"Sweetums?" Damaras mouthed wordlessly, clutching his stomach. He was starting to doubt the constitution of his bionic stomach.

"I don't know, I just...Lavira do something!" He told her. Lavira started to gather up some supplies.

"I'm coming my darling!" She assured him as she signed off. "I don't understand this, how could he be sick? He's given new vaccinations almost daily!"

"Against viruses that are known to us yes." Damaras stated. "But what if someone...brought something new onto the ship?"

"Something new?" Lavira asked.

"Like...something from Earth perhaps?" He asked her. "Now...who do we know has spent a lot of time on Earth lately? Someone who had a lot of close contact with a human perhaps?"

"You...you think...?" She stared to stammer. She had been on Earth recently, and come back. In her time on Earth, under the influence of her love potion, she had spent most of her time trying to get Jake to come with her. She shook her head. After that, she had come back to the ship...and since then...she had spent a lot of time in close contact with the Prince...VERY close contact! "But...I am not sick!"

"You were in the hospital wing." Damaras reminded her. "Perhaps the virus has run its course in you while you were sedated."

"My poor Prince!" Lavira yelled as she grabbed armfuls of supplies, running from the lab, a few bottles and vials falling from her grip and smashing as she went. Damaras just laughed as he saw her run, closing the door behind her.

"That was far too easy." He stated. He went over to Argus, and pulled out a device, a wireless dongle of sorts, and attached it to the base of Argus' head. He then pulled out his communicator, activating the secure channel. "It is done Lord Vrak."

"Well done Damaras, you can actually do something right." Vrak responded as he tapped some keys on his computer. "Now, just ensure Lavira is distracted long enough for me to find her back-door program."

"Don't worry about that." Damaras muttered. "Something tells me she's going to be too distracted with her Sweetums."

Vrak just stopped typing as he heard this, and a look of disgust crossed his features.

"Please...don't say that again." He responded. "That's a mental image I really don't need."

Down on the Red Galleon, Orion was working hard, cleaning up the ship as the others worked on various projects to occupy their time until they got to Glasgow. Although none of them had come to him and said anything that indicated otherwise, he still felt terrible about what he had said about Gia when he found out about her sexuality.

The truth was, he had prayed on the matter a few times, gone into deep meditation, and the fact was that in all that time, he couldn't really remember any REAL reason he would have to dislike anyone who was homosexual. He had never been wronged or harmed by someone who was gay, and to the best of his knowledge, he couldn't even remember anyone in his village BEING gay...though he was starting to understand why if anyone he knew was gay then they would have kept quiet about the fact.

He could still remember all the things he had heard people say about the...it sickened him, he couldn't even bring himself to think the word he had used to describe Gia now, never mind say it. He had heard people talk about them. The other guys in the mines would joke about how they were too weak to shift rock, or that they would make poor miners because they would spend all their time staring at the other miners. Whenever someone took a little too long on break or made a fuss about being tired or hurt, someone would call them...that. That one always got a laugh. What was worse, Orion could remember laughing with them.

He could remember in his time at the prayer meetings, talking to the Preachers he was training under to become a Preacher, and hearing them talk about their take on it. They would talk about how the Earth Gods had a plan for their people, and that since it was impossible for two men or two women to produce children to carry on their work, to carry on the glory of the Earth Gods that they were not what the Earth Gods wanted, and by extension were a walking blasphemy. They were evil. Orion could remember hearing these words, and he could even remember repeating them to some of the groups he had been allowed to lead in prayer.

Now though, he was starting to doubt a lot of what he had heard. He had known Gia now for months. He had met her, and he had fought alongside her, seen her work to protect her friends, the people of the Earth, and to destroy The Armada with the same passion and commitment any of them had. He had seen her battle some of the strongest creatures they had faced with every bit of the strength he would expect of any of them. Indeed, she was accepted as one of the strongest members of the team.

She had also been one of the first to accept Orion onto the team. She had always greeted him with kindness and acceptance. Even when, admittedly, some of his quirks and some of his behaviour had to be more than a little odd to the others, she had always just taken it as part of the process of acclimatising to a world he didn't really understand.

Then...he found out she was gay. It was a surprise; Gia wasn't at all like he had been told gay people were. She was strong, she was focused, and while she did occasionally get impatient, she didn't have one bad bone in her body. She had never intentionally gone out of her way to hurt anyone in all the time he had known her. She was just...just a good, honest, normal person.

He had also spent some time re-reading his texts. It seemed that in his Faith, in the teachings of the Earth Gods, he couldn't find one mention of them saying ANYTHING about people who were gay. Not one passage he had read indicated that the Earth Gods had said anything against it. They had spoken against other things that they believed were wrong, waste, disrespect of the planets' resources, but of homosexuality...they hadn't said a word. It had led Orion to think that anything he had heard to say that it was unacceptable had NOT come from his Gods, but from people, from their prejudices. It left him thinking, if the Gods hadn't said anything about it, hadn't actively spoken of it as a sin, perhaps they were a part of their plan.

While he had talked to Gia and apologised, and she had been kind enough to let it go, he got the feeling that the others were still a little chilly with him on the whole thing. He had basically insulted one of their best friends, so he couldn't really blame them. While they hadn't gone out of their way to make him uncomfortable, or chewed him out, and certainly hadn't sought any kind of revenge, he still felt like he had a lot to make up for. While the others were whiling away their time with hobbies and side-projects, Orion was doing everyone's chores for them.

"That's another load of laundry done." He called out as he heard the alert, putting aside his mop. "Does anyone else have anything they need run through?"

He got kind of a mumbled response from the others, which he took to be a no. He wasn't exactly expecting a warm reception all things considered. He made his way over to where Noah was working on a blaster, the one with two Power Locks he had told them about.

"Hey, that looks cool." He responded.

"I'm hoping it works out." Noah told him. "Would you mind not standing in the light?"

"Oh, sorry." Orion replied, moving aside. He saw Noah working on the intricate circuits, going back to some notes he had made and looking back to the blaster periodically. "Do you think it'll be ready soon?"

"It's hard to say." Noah told him. "I hope it'll be ready to test in a few days..."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Orion asked him. "I did fix the Free Joker when it was grounded." Noah just sighed and looked to him.

"No offence Orion, but I don't think this is exactly the same kind of engineering." Noah told him. "If I make one wrong move with this, I could lose my arm, that's why I asked Jordan to work on something else."

"Oh...right. Sorry." He replied. "I just...wanted to see if I could help."

"Ask Jake, he said he was working out." Noah told him. "Maybe you could spot him or something."

Orion just nodded and left Noah behind. It didn't sound like a bad option, but as he was going, he saw Emma on a computer, looking through some files. He knew that of all of them, she was the first one to figure out what had caused this. If he was going to get the others on board, it seemed like she was the best one to start with.

He headed over, standing behind her.

"Wow, good pictures." He complimented her. "I...didn't know you were a cheerleader."

"It's just some silly pictures Gia and I took." Emma answered, glaring at him. "It wasn't anything flirty or anything if that's what you..."

"No, I didn't...I didn't think anything like that." Orion told her. Emma just sneered as she turned back to the computer. The picture was taken before Gia came out, back when she harboured feelings for Emma. Looking at the picture, she had to admit she wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a part of Gia that was a little too enthusiastic to see her in that cheerleading uniform.

"They were taken just for fun." Emma told her. "We sometimes just took some goofy shots, just...you know...for fun. We hired some costumes and just took some silly pictures to make us laugh."

"Emma, look, I know I should never have said what I did." He told her. "I was surprised, and...it was the first word that popped into my head. I know it's wrong but..."

"I just don't get it Orion, how could you say something like that about a friend?" Emma asked him.

"I'm sorry." Orion reiterated. "I know it was wrong, but I'm trying to make it up to everyone."

"It takes more than just saying you're sorry Orion." She told him. "Gia may have forgiven you, but that doesn't mean I do."

Orion realised he was onto a losing battle, and just quietly left. He knew he had a lot of work to do to get things back on track. He just made his way to the gym, finding Jake working out.

"Would you like some company?" Orion asked. Jake just gestured him inside.

"Well, I could use a spot." He told him. "I was hoping to go for your bench-press record."

Orion just took off his jacket and made his way over to the station to help Jake with his workout. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Back on The Armada Command Ship, the entire ship rocked as the Prince sneezed yet again. Some droids rushed around, fetching tissues and steadying the furniture.

"Why does this keep happening?" Prince Vekar asked Lavira as she analysed some samples she had taken from him.

"It's a virus from Earth, one that they call a cold." Lavira told him. "It seems that your involuntary reflexes...your sneezes...they involuntarily cause some of your power to flare up, which is why the ship shakes...you aren't in full control for a fraction of a second."

"This is intolerable." He responded, blowing his nose on a tissue. "How did this happen? How did I end up with a human virus?"

"I...I...believe one of your Commanders may have brought it onto the ship by mistake." Lavira told him. "I believe they may have picked it up on Earth, perhaps from one of the Rangers, and brought it back when they came here. A lot of your Commanders have been to Earth and back."

"This is true." He sniffled as he pulled his blankets around himself. "Those Rangers are the cause of everything bad that happens to me! What is the cure for this? What do the humans do?"

"For humans, it's generally considered an inconvenience, normally they don't treat it with...anything to be honest." Lavira explained. "Most colds don't even last a full day in humans. They just rest, take fluids and wait for their immune system to burn it out."

"I have to just...WAIT?" The Prince exclaimed, before sneezing again. Lavira caught a glass decanter as it fell off the shelf, putting it back. They were becoming more used to the effects of his sneezes, and were able to brace for them now. She just sighed.

"Because your physiology isn't human, I don't know if the effects will be different." Lavira explained. "The reason colds are so harmless in humans is because they are exposed to it. They have immunities we don't. That's why you're suffering so much."

"Then what am I meant to do?" He asked her.

"I have heard that happiness helps the healing process." She told him. "That's why I'm up and around so quickly after what that traitor Jealoushitto did to me."

She smiled at him.

"I had my little Sweetums at my side, and that made all the difference." She told him. Vekar thought about this for a moment.

"Happiness eh?" He asked. "DESOLOT!"

"Desolot?" Lavira asked. She knew the name; he was a Commander they had used to conquer a few worlds that had strong defences. He wasn't necessarily the strongest warrior they had; he used subversion to attain his victories. He was a master infiltrator, able to get into some of the most secure locations on any world, and use his primary power. He was able to absorb happiness, to make others miserable. On more than one occasion, worlds that would have held out for weeks were taken over in just a few hours once Desolot was assigned to the mission. It was easy to take over a world if its population was too depressed to bother fighting back.

"You said happiness could help me get rid of this infernal...aaaaatchOOO!"

Everyone steadied themselves as the ship shook.

"Well yes, but that's not exactly what I..."

"Get me Desolot!" Prince Vekar declared as he wiped his nose with another tissue. "I want him to gather all the happiness it takes to rid me of this interminable plague!"

He looked to one of the droids and waved at him angrily.

"Well? Get me a trash can; do you think I want this as a souvenir?" He demanded. Lavira just sighed.

"I will get Desolot, but in the meantime, I know something that the humans use that may just alleviate some of the symptoms and make you feel better for a while." She told him.

"Whatever, just...DO IT!" Prince Vekar screamed. She left the room, taking a couple of droids with her.

"You, find Desolot and bring him to the Bridge. I have a mission for him." She told him. She then looked to the other. "You...tell the kitchen to make the Prince some chicken soup."


	15. Happiness is Fleeting

The Rangers had hidden the Red Galleon, and made their way into the city of Glasgow after their arrival. They knew it would be a while before Kira arrived for the concert, and so were taking the time to get the lay of the land. After the debacle in Porto, they didn't want to risk her flight being re-routed again. She needed to actually GET to the city if they were going to get to her. In the meantime, they were just trying to lay low, getting the lay of the land and figure out the best way to approach. Once again, Emma's obsession for photography proved useful in making them look like tourists.

After going to the venue, the SSE Hydro arena, and taking a number of pictures, they went to the nearby Kelvingrove Park to check out what they had. Noah had his laptop out, and allowed Emma to link up her camera to the computer so they could all get a better look. Jake was pacing, rubbing his arms and breathing into his hands.

"Jake would you quit that?" Gia asked him.

"It's easy for you to say, you have a jacket!" He complained. "Come on, can't we find somewhere indoors to do this?"

"It's not good news I'm afraid." Noah said as he analysed Emma's pictures, and some blueprints he had "acquired" through some creative hacking. "The place is sealed up pretty tight. They take security really seriously there."

"There are only a couple of entrances, plenty of cameras...and a heck of a lot of guards." Jordan confirmed. "What's worse is that tickets are sold out. We can't even get in that way...unless we want to look for a scalp."

"It might just come to that." Gia responded. "So, what about hotels? You found her in Malta, do you know where...?"

"It looks like they're changing up their game plan on that account." Noah told her. "I can't find any obvious pseudonyms checked into nearby hotels. I've narrowed the search to the ten hotels nearest the concert venue that have suitable suites, but...that's not exactly a guarantee."

"Then we have no choice, we have to get to her at the Hydro." Gia answered. She looked up as she saw something up ahead. "Guys, let's take this somewhere else."

"Well you don't hear me complaining." Jake replied. "Maybe somewhere indoors with heating?"

"I'd settle for somewhere without cops." Gia answered as she pointed to where a couple of police officers were approaching a group of students from the nearby university camped out on the grass with some cans of lager. They were in the process of removing them for drinking in a public place, a minor offence in the area. The Rangers started to pack up their stuff, at which Orion offered to take Emma's bag.

"I can manage just fine." She replied coolly as she took it, and walked off. Orion just took a deep breath and followed them. It was clear he had a long way to go to win Emma over.

In The Armada Command Ship, Lavira arrived on the bridge, finding the latest Commander, Desolot waiting for her. He gripped his staff tightly as he stood to attention before her.

"I heard the Prince has a mission for me!" He declared, looking around. "Where is he?"

"The Prince is...indisposed." She replied. "For now, you take my orders as though they were his."

"But Damaras..."

"Do you see him here?" She asked. She had to admit that she didn't really know where he was, but the fact was that she hadn't given it a second thought. Knowing that her love was lying in his room, wracked with an illness that was alien to his species, that had the potential to be lethal if his immune system didn't respond to it in time, all she was concerned about was getting him better by any means necessary. "I heard that happiness can help healing."

"Well, when it comes to gathering happiness, I'm your guy." He replied.

"I need you to gather as much happiness as you can and do it quickly." She told him. "The sooner we inject the Prince..."

The whole ship shook, presumably as he sneezed again. Lavira just looked to him.

"Please, the sooner the better." Lavira told him. "I am certain that the Prince will reward you richly if you cure him. Whatever you want, I'm sure he'll be able to get it for you."

"Now THAT sounds like the kind of thing that makes ME happy!" He told her. "If you want a lot of happiness quickly, I need to..."

"Do whatever you need to, take as many troops as you need, just...do SOMETHING!" She told him. Desolot just started dancing gleefully.

"I'm going to get my own planet for sure!" He cackled as he disappeared.

Back in Glasgow, the Rangers had found a restaurant to get some lunch in, one that had been converted from an old church. It had a theatre upstairs, and advertised a deal for a meal and a play on certain nights. The Rangers, of course, weren't there for a show, they were just biding their time until they could figure out how to get close to Kira.

"Well, the airport's still letting in flights." Noah confirmed, looking at his laptop. "If we knew which flight she was on, we could confirm if she's already here or not."

"Unless they cancel the concert, we have to proceed as planned." Gia told them. "Which means we STILL need to figure out how to get in without tickets."

"Do you have any sneaky pirate tricks up your sleeve?" Jake asked Orion. "You know...for getting into restricted areas?"

"We weren't that subtle." Orion mumbled through a mouthful of his food. He swallowed it, clearing him to talk. "Normally Lafitte just blasted his way in."

"Well, that's what's lost us the opportunity twice already." Noah answered. "If we don't want to spook her tour company again, we need to make sure that any trouble is kept strictly on the DL."

"Either that or we stop her leaving." Jake suggested. Gia just sighed and looked to him.

"And how do we do that when we don't even know if she's in the city yet?" She asked him. He just shrugged.

"I can't think of everything can I?" He asked them. Orion just gestured to Noah's plate, shoving his empty plate away from himself.

"Are you going to eat that?" He asked. Noah just handed him the plate, at which Orion continued to eat. Emma rolled her eyes.

"You do know what that is right?" She asked him.

"Haggis, neeps and tatties." He replied, quoting the menu. She just looked at him with a little smile on her face.

"Do you happen to know what haggis is?" She asked him. He just shook his head. "It's sheep offal and meal."

Orion knew she told him this, hoping it was going to get a reaction. He put down his fork and shoved the plate away to humour her, hoping it would help atmosphere between them. The fact was, given how long he had been marooned, it wasn't as though sheep offal would be the worst thing he had ever eaten. The fact it was actually really good was immaterial, he just hoped Emma would think she had gotten the desired reaction.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" Orion asked. They all followed his gesture, seeing some guys standing at the bar, drinking some whiskies. They were all wearing full traditional kilt outfits. Noah just shrugged.

"I don't know, probably a wedding." He answered.

"The guys are all wearing skirts." He commented. Emma just snorted and said something under her breath. Orion realised quickly he had made some kind of cultural faux pas.

"They're kilts." Jake corrected him. "Men in Scotland sometimes wear them to formal occasions like weddings."

Orion thought this sounded odd, but he could already see the look on Emma's face, and figured it was best not to press the issue. It was obviously a cultural thing he didn't understand, and thinking about it, having questioned the idea of men wearing "skirts", he figured that Emma might have taken that as being connected to the prejudice he had shown before.

"I guess we had some pretty wild outfits on Andresia." Orion conceded. "You should see what people wear on the Day of the Volcano Goddess! The guys wear these robes..."

"ANYWAY!" Gia interrupted, bringing them back to the point. "Maybe we should get back to the matter at hand?"

"Well, it looks like this is going to take a while." Jake commented. "It looks like the wedding party just left, so the bar's free. I'll just go and get us some drinks."

As he left, the others just went back to trying to figure out their new plan.

Meanwhile, at Glasgow International Airport, Kira made her way through security, gathering her belongings at the other side of the gate. Cat and the rest of her entourage weren't far behind. As she picked up her case, she looked around, finding a driver, holding a placard with her name on it. She smiled as she went over.

"Welcome to Scotland Ms. Ford." The driver greeted her, shaking her hand warmly. "I hope you had a good flight."

"It was tiring." She admitted. "I am SOOO looking forward to getting to the hotel."

"Um...listen, I'm not meant to ask, it's against company rules, but...would you really mind me taking a selfie?" He asked her, pulling out a phone. "I'm a really huge fan."

"Hey, why not?" Kira asked, pulling in beside him. He took the shot, just before they heard a crash. Kira just turned around, seeing Cat on the floor, staring up at the ceiling with a dazed expression on her face as a woman with a luggage cart tried to help her up apologetically.

"Sorry, she's kind of accident prone." Kira chuckled as she helped Cat straighten herself out. "Come on, if luggage carts cause you this much trouble, I don't want to see how you fare in traffic."

Back in the restaurant, the Rangers were on their fourth round of lemonades as they discussed possible ideas for how to approach Kira. They were not making as much progress as they'd like. Not even knowing if she was in the city yet, it was difficult to make any real headway. It still came back to the issue of the fact the only place they KNEW she'd end up was at the arena...which brought up the issue of security once again.

"Maybe we could try and get some disguises." Jake suggested. "You know...pretend to be security."

"Well, it's the best suggestion I've heard so far." Gia conceded. "The only issue is, where do we get security uniforms? We don't even know what they look like!"

"Maybe we don't need security uniforms." Orion suggested. "Back home, lawgivers...what you call police here...were allowed pretty much everywhere. Maybe we could get some police uniforms."

"Orion..."

"No...wait...that's actually a pretty decent idea." Gia told them. "Emma, you have pictures right? Do you have any of the cops at the park? Maybe we can make some!"

"Well, Kira's in the city at least!" Noah told them. "Some limo driver just posted a selfie with her to Facebook!"

"Thank you Internet for destroying everyone's privacy!" Gia said with a smile. Before she could look at the screen to confirm what Noah had seen though, they all heard some screams from outside. The Rangers all looked to each other as some people ran in, screaming about Armada troops.

"Come on guys; let's deal with this before Kira's security whisk her away again." Gia told them. "We need to do this fast."

As Noah closed over his laptop, and they ran out to face their enemies, he failed to notice a rather familiar face in the selfie the limo driver had taken, a girl with dyed red hair on the losing end of an argument with a luggage cart.

A couple of streets away, Desolot, backed by some X-borgs and some bruisers attacked a church, just as a wedding party was leaving. The robots kept the guests corralled into the area, while Desolot used his staff to draw off their happiness. He cackled with sick delight as he saw the bride break down in a hysterical fit of tears on what should have been the happiest day of her life.

"All that joy, all that happiness...the Prince will be back to full health in no time!" He cackled. Just then, an X-borg's head flew past him, hitting the ground. "What the...?"

He turned around, seeing the Rangers, battling his vanguard. As Jordan kicked a bruiser, leaving it hanging at waist-height over a wall, Emma leapt into the air, bringing both feet down on the back of its head, smashing it off. She looked up to Desolot as the others continued to thin out the robotic henchmen.

"Prince Vekar's attacking weddings now?" Emma called out. "I didn't think he could sink any lower!"

"The Prince is sick, he needs happiness to cure him." Desolot told them. "Where better to get happiness than a wedding?"

"You're not getting away with this!" Emma told him, pulling her morpher and morphing. She ran at him, attacking him in a fury.

"Everyone get to safety!" Jordan rushed out as they all morphed. Orion was the last to pass, and looked back to the party.

"Uh...for what it's worth...congratulations." He stammered out, before joining the others. They had Desolot surrounded, and were quick to press the advantage. Although he was strong, it was quickly clear that they had faced stronger opponents.

"You have no right to take that happiness!" Gia warned him. "Give it up, or we'll take it from you the hard way!"

"Oh, I don't think so." Desolot replied. He reached to a device on his belt and turned a dial on the buckle. As the Rangers watched, he grew to massive size.

"Uh...so they don't need lasers now?" Jake asked.

"Orion, call the Q-Rex!" Gia told him. "We need to finish this before Kira leaves the city again! Red Galleon!"

Orion was the first into his Megazord, and took up the attack, giving the others to board the ship and convert to Megazord mode. Jordan took the controls.

"Orion, hold him still!" Jordan told him as they opened up the chest cannon. "We just need one clear shot!"

Orion did as he was told; gripping Desolot tightly, but the monster had one more trick up his sleeve. Reaching back to his belt buckle, he turned the dial again.

"So long!" He said as he seemingly disappeared. Orion only just ducked his Megazord out of the way in time as the Corsair Megazord opened fire. They watched some explosions in the distance.

"Shit, what did we hit?" Gia asked.

"Uh...good news...Kira's not going anywhere." Jake responded, checking the police scanner. "Bad news? The Glasgow cops are going to be SERIOUSLY pissed when they see we just levelled the airport!"

"We hit the airport?" Gia called out. "Noah..."

"Emergency services are already on the way." He assured her, taking a huge gulp. "I really hope everyone's OK!"

"Where did he go?" Emma shrieked. "He just disappeared!"

"Maybe he teleported out?" Jordan suggested.

"No, normally there's a flash when they do that." Noah reminded him. "Orion, do you see anything?"

"I don't see anything!" He replied. "I've lost sight of him. I..."

Just then, he was hit over the back of the head, de-morphing him and knocking him out cold. Desolot just looked to his downed form with satisfaction.

"Orion, what happened?" Jordan asked him. There was no answer.

"Orion, answer us!" Gia barked. Desolot sat at the controls, gripping the controls.

"I'm sorry, Orion isn't in right now." He responded. "Now...I've always wanted to do this!"

The Megazord was rocked as the Q-Rex attacked, striking it in the chest with its drill weapon. All the Rangers gripped tightly to the controls, trying to stay in position.

"OK, that isn't good." Jake muttered as they rounded on the other Zord reluctantly.


	16. An Unorthodox Plan

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Lavira made her way into Prince Vekar's chambers, finding him bundled up in blankets, sitting up on his bed. He had a tray on his lap, on top of which was a large, steaming bowl of chicken soup. He was slurping away at it, desperate for anything that would alleviate the symptoms of his cold.

"How is your...uh...medicine?" Lavira asked him. Prince Vekar smiled at her.

"It's working a charm, you really are a genius!" He complimented her, picking up the bowl and slurping the last of it. He swept the leftovers from his chin with his sleeve. "I feel better already!"

"Well, as I explained, this concoction only helps take the edge of the symptoms." She told him. "I'll have some more brought to you in a little while."

"You really take good care of me." He responded, reaching up to her face. "I couldn't hope to find a better woman."

"I have always been devoted to you my Prince." She told him. He pursed his lips, obviously looking for a kiss. Lavira hesitated for a moment, before leaning in and kissing his forehead.

"Desolot is gathering happiness as we speak." Lavira assured him. "It should not be long before he returns."

"You are far too good to me." Prince Vekar told her. "Once I am well enough, and I finally crush these Rangers, I plan to make you my queen."

"Nothing would make me happier!" Lavira replied, taking his bowl from him. "Try to get some sleep. I'll be back later with more medicine."

As she left the room, with a huge grin on her face, she had only two thoughts. The first was the overwhelming joy at the Prince's, admittedly somewhat less than romantic proposal, and the other...she REALLY loved the placebo effect!

Back in the city of Glasgow, the Corsair Megazord staggered as the Q-Rex Megazord slammed its drill weapon into it yet again. Sparks flew around the cockpit as the Rangers struggle to maintain control.

"Damn, that Q-Rex is powerful!" Jake protested. "Thank God it's normally on our side!"

"Well right now it's not!" Jordan reminded him as they struck back with their sabres. "Come on Orion, this is no time to be lying down on the job!"

"At least he doesn't seem to have figured out how to use the most powerful attacks." Gia added. "Maybe we won't COMPLETELY wreck the Zords by the time this is done."

As they struggled to contend with the attack, in the Q-Rex Zord, Desolot was randomly mashing down on the controls, struggling to figure out how best to use the Zord. While it wasn't too hard to get it to move, he wasn't able to do much more. He knew that the Zord had far more powerful attacks at its disposal, a whole array of weapons that could be used, if only he could figure out the finer points of the controls.

"Come on, come ON!" He complained, hitting the control panel. "Where are the laser cannons? The missiles? The disintegration rays...the stereo?"

As he continued to hunt through the controls, he didn't notice Orion starting to stir. The Silver Ranger reached up to his head, feeling the fog lifting. He could only remember a heavy blow to the side of his head before everything faded to darkness. He looked up, seeing the monster at the controls of his Megazord, and quickly realised what was going on.

He got to his feet and rushed Desolot from behind, grabbing him tightly.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Orion yelled at him, dragging him away from the controls aggressively. He threw the monster to the floor and called up his Silver Spear. "Get out of my Zord!"

"Time to jam!" Desolot told him, turning the dial on his belt. As Orion swung for him, his Silver Spear found only empty space. He spun around, looking for any signs of Desolot.

"Where'd he go? Orion asked. He noticed a small blur, heading for a vent. As he rushed over, he only just got a small glimpse of the monster, and realised how Desolot had gotten onto the ship in the first place.

"Guys, Desolot's abandoned the ship!" He called through the communicator. "He doesn't just grow, he can also shrink! He has some kind of device on his belt!"

"So, he's The Armada's equivalent of Hank Pim?" Jake asked. "So that's how he took over the Q-Rex!"

"Alright guys, stay sharp." Jordan told them. "He might just try that trick again."

He heard a slight buzzing sound, and fell silent. As the others heard it too, they all exchanged a knowing glance.

"Yeah...we need to keep an eye out for him." Noah said, gently unclipping the strap on his holster. As Jordan jerked his head in the direction of the corner, Noah silently passed him the blaster under the console. "But I'll bet he's already run away. I'll bet..."

Just as Desolot returned to full size right beside Jordan's chair, the Red Ranger turned in his seat, pointing his blaster straight at him.

"There!" Jordan called out. "Surprise!"

He opened fire, hitting him at point blank range. Desolot saw the others going for their weapons and realised that he was in a pretty bad position. Before they could surround him and hem him in, he headed for the door.

"I see him!" Orion told them. He could see Desolot exiting onto the shoulder of the Corsair Megazord, but having already damaged it, he was reluctant to risk taking a shot. "He's on the shoulder! I can't get a clear shot at him from here!"

"It's alright, we're on it!" Jordan assured him as the other Rangers ran out after him. Desolot could see how desperate the pursuit had become. Leaping down the front of the Megazord, he slipped back inside through a service hatch.

"Man, this guy has seen WAY too much Scooby Doo!" Noah complained.

"Trying to escape by running back inside our own ship? Not too smart!" Jake added as they ran back inside. The service hatch he had used brought him into the ship down near the main hydraulics. He scurried about, looking for somewhere to hide, but the Rangers arrived too quickly for him to find somewhere to shrink and secret himself. They quickly surrounded him.

"There's nowhere to run now!" Gia told him. "Now, return the happiness to those people and maybe we'll let you leave in one piece!"

"Want a bet?" Desolot asked, turning the dial on his belt. He shrunk down again to the size of an insect. The Rangers all started to dart looks around the engine room as they tried to keep track of the tiny monster.

"He shrunk down again!" Jake protested. "How are we meant to...ah...ah...ha ha ha!"

"Uh...Jake?" Noah asked as Jake started laughing.

"That...that tickles!" He shrieked. The Rangers watched as they saw his suit start to pull out in a few places.

"He's in Jake's suit!" Noah called out. "Let's get him!"

As the Rangers ran over, they surrounded Jake, and started lashing out, striking anywhere the suit pulled out. Unfortunately, Desolot was moving much too quickly.

"OW, guys, I'm in here!" Jake whined.

"He's out!" Emma said as she saw Desolot finally leave. He turned back to them, firing some power blasts from his staff, hitting a lot of the engine parts, damaging them.

"That should keep you all distracted for a while!" He told them. "So long!"

He blasted a hole in the side of the hull, and flew away, leaving the Rangers staring out the hole after him.

"Well...that was embarrassing." Noah commented.

"Aw man, look at this place!" Jake complained, looking at the smoking, damaged engine parts. "He totally disabled us!"

"Meanwhile, he's out there no doubt stealing more happiness." Emma added. "What can we do?"

Gia needed to think. The priority was to fix the Megazord, since they needed it not only for battles, but also as their main form of transport. They also needed to find Desolot, and they still needed to figure out a way to get to Kira. She thought about it for a moment.

"Orion, send the Q-Rex back and get over here." She told the Silver Ranger. "Let Alex worry about its repairs. Jordan, Noah, you two stay here and fix up this mess. Jake, you're with me. We need to find Kira and get a hold of her."

"But what about that monster?" Emma asked. Gia just looked to her.

"Well...you and Orion can go after him." She replied. Emma just looked to her sceptically.

"Gia..."

"Emma, please, we need you to do this!" Gia told her as Orion arrived.

"So, what's going on?" Orion asked.

"We're going monster hunting." Emma told him. "Assuming we can even find him."

"That device DOES make it complicated." Gia conceded. "If he wants, he can hide in plain sight."

"So, we have to find a way to draw him to us, right?" Orion asked. "So, how do we do that?"

"I have an idea." Gia told them. Emma just looked at her, seeing a slightly evil smirk on her face.

"Gia, I hate when you get that look." Emma told her. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"If you want to draw him out, you just need somewhere he can get a lot of happiness right?" Gia asked. "Where did we find him before?"

"Oh...oh no!" Emma protested.

"Come on Emma, you know it makes sense." Gia replied.

"Gia!"

"Please Emma." Gia responded. "I know you'll do great!"

"Fine!" Emma responded, rolling her eyes.

"Uh...what just happened?" Orion asked. Emma grabbed his jacket and dragged him away.

"Come on Orion." She told him. "It looks like we're getting married!"

"Wait WHAT?" Orion asked as he was dragged from the room. Gia looked to Noah and Jordan.

"You two fix things here, let us know when the Megazord's up and moving again." Gia told them. "Jake, come with me."

"Where are we going?" He asked her.

"We need police uniforms right?" She asked him. "Well, that means we need to find some cops!"

"Why do I get the feeling this is a really bad plan?" Jake asked in response as they left.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Desolot had returned, but with much less happiness than he needed. To say the Prince wasn't in a good mood was an understatement.

"Incompetent fool! AAAATCHOOO!" The whole ship shook as he sneezed. "You come back to tell me you've failed?"

"No, no sire it's just a little delay that's all!" He protested. "I promise, I'll go back down and get all the happiness you need!"

"Be sure that you do! This is intolerable, where is Lavira with that medicine?" He whined. "You, what are you still doing here? Go back to Earth and don't come back until you have my cure!"

"Of course your highness!" Desolot answered sheepishly, bowing as he backed out of the door. "I'll go at once, don't worry, I'll get all the happiness you need!"

Back in Glasgow, Gia and Jake were wandering the streets, and for once, instead of actively avoiding the police, they were actively looking for officers. Specifically, they were looking for the pairing of a man and a woman around about the same size as them. Jake looked around as Gia stopped to observe the latest patrol car they had found.

"Have I already said how much I think this is a really bad idea?" He asked her. Gia just looked to him.

"Come on Jake, you know we need those uniforms to get into the arena." Gia told him. "If you have a better plan, I'd really like to hear it!"

"Look, maybe instead of trying to mug a couple of cops for their uniforms we should think about that path of the heart thing from Tensou's poem." He suggested. "I mean, why go provoking the local cops if we don't have to? They're bound to already be upset about the airport."

"Jake, we have no idea where Kira even is." Gia told him, pulling out her I-phone. She pulled up the Facebook page of the limo driver that had taken a selfie with Kira earlier. "It's only because of this picture we know she's even in the city! She could be anywhere!"

"I know, I know." Jake muttered. As he was about to turn away from the picture though, he paused. He took the phone from Gia, and stared at it as she turned her attention back to the cops.

"Now, Tensou said this spray would put them out for 10 hours." She reminded him, pulling out a small aerosol spray. "Now all we need is some way to get them out of sight long enough to..."

"Uh...Gia...I think I have a better idea!" Jake told her. Gia just turned and looked at him.

"What Jake?" She asked him. "Do you think I want to do this either?"

"Tell me what you see." Jake told her, handing her back the phone. Gia just sighed.

"Kira and some limo driver." She muttered. "So?"

"See anyone else?" He asked her. "Someone familiar perhaps?"

Gia just turned back to the phone, looking more closely at the picture. It was in the background, but lying on the floor, having clearly been hit with a luggage cart, was an all-too-familiar artificially-red-headed girl. Gia gripped the phone more tightly.

"NO FREAKING WAY!" She called out. There was no way to deny that it was Cat. Jake just smiled.

"We might not be able to track Kira." He commented. "But maybe tracking her will be a little easier."

"Hold on." Gia told him, checking up Cat's Facebook page. She just took a deep gasp.

"She was in Malta at the same time we were!" She told him. "And here's an update saying her plane was redirected from Porto!"

"That sounds like more than a little bit of a coincidence!" Jake told her. "I think it looks like she's travelling with Kira."

"Come on!" Gia told him, putting the knock-out spray back in her pocket. "We have to call a whole bunch of hotels!"

Elsewhere in the city, Emma was sitting in the back-room of a church, getting herself ready. The unconscious body of a bride she'd had to sedate was propped up against the wall. She sat in front of a mirror, fixing the last few details of her outfit. She didn't notice as Orion came into the room behind her.

"Emma, I...oh...WOW!" He commented. "Emma, you look...incredible."

"Thanks." She replied sadly. "The groom?"

"He's resting quietly in a closet." Orion assured her as he straightened out his bow-tie. "I'm still not convinced by this whole kilt thing though."

"It's only for a little while." Emma assured him. "None of the guests know?"

"There are only four people in the hall." He told her. "It looks like it's a small wedding."

As Emma turned back to the mirror, Orion approached her.

"You know, its happiness Desolot is looking for." He reminded her. "You should at least try to look happy."

"I know, it's just...all of this." She replied, gesturing around. "It's hard not to think about...you know...this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I walked down the aisle."

"Then what did you have in mind?" Orion asked her. She just sighed.

"I guess...I really want my dad to give me away. To tell me I'm beautiful and how proud he is of me." She told him. "Gia as my maid of honour, that's a given. And..."

"And...not me as the groom." Orion interrupted. "It's alright, I get it."

"We haven't talked about it seriously, but Troy and I have talked about it. You know...just in a hypothetical way." Emma told him. "I guess a lot of the times in the last year or so I've imagined my wedding, I guess I just presumed Troy would be the one at the other end of the aisle."

"Not to mention you would probably prefer any of the guys to me right now." Orion stated. Emma just looked at him. "I know, I deserve it for what I said."

"Orion, you just don't get it." Emma told him. He just looked confused.

"Then explain it to me." He told her. "You know I don't hate Gia. You know that I just said what I did..."

"I know all that Orion!" Emma blurted out. "To be honest, I guess a part of me already knew. We knew you before you even said that. We know you're a good person. We know you wouldn't intentionally hurt any of us."

"So why are you upset?" He asked.

"Because I said it too!" Emma blurted out. Orion just stared at her. "I know I didn't really know what it meant, and I know I just presumed it was Andresian for gay or something but...Gia's my best friend! She's been like a sister to me my whole life!"

Orion looked to her sympathetically.

"In the entire world, she's the one person I'd never want to attack." Emma told him. "Do you have any idea how it feels knowing that I said that to her?"

"Emma, I'm really sorry." Orion said sympathetically. "I...I should never have said that, and when I did...I should have told you what it meant. I don't know how to make it up to you, but I promise I'll try."

Emma leaned in, hugging him as she felt the sincerity in his words. She knew that he'd had to face up to the fact a lot of his village's old beliefs were questionable. She knew that there was no malice intended in what he had said. She just parted from him a little way.

"I guess I'll meet you out there." She replied. He just smiled.

"Just remember, try to look happy." Orion told her. "I don't even mind if you imagine Troy to get through this."

"Thanks Orion." She told him. "You're a pretty good fake husband."

"And you make an amazing fake wife." He replied, making his way out into the church to wait at the altar for her.


	17. Meeting A Superstar

Gia and Jake were in a coffee shop, sitting with a pot of tea. Gia was on the phone, while Jake was finishing off a scone, loaded up with strawberry jam. He could see the look on Gia's face as she dialled another hotel in the area. They had reasoned that Kira would likely be staying in a four or five star place within easy driving distance of the concert hall. After that, it was a simple matter of calling the places and asking after Cat.

"Gia, are you going to eat that?" He asked, gesturing to her scone. Gia just waved him off, being too busy listening as the switchboard operator greeted her.

"Hello, I just arrived in town and I was hoping to look up someone who might be in your hotel." Gia began. "Her name is Caterina Williams."

"Let me just check up on the system." The operator replied. Gia could hear her tapping a few keys, before getting back to the phone. "Yes, we have a guest in house under that name. Would you like to connect me to the room?"

Gia jumped excitedly, hearing this. She had found her!

"No, that's alright, I'm not far from the hotel." Gia told her. "I'll just pop in for a visit."

"For security reasons we can't give out guest's room numbers." The operator told her. "You'll need to ask the desk to call up to the room to confirm your identity."

"That's fine." Gia answered. "I'll be there shortly. Thanks for your help."

As she hung up, she grinned brightly.

"So, we've found Kira." He mumbled through his scone. He could see the slightly dreamy look on Gia's face. He gulped down his mouthful as he saw her. "Uh...Gia?"

"Hm...yeah?" She asked. Jake just smiled.

"We found Kira." He told her. Gia took a second, before nodding.

"Well, kind of, but yes, we found her." She told him, reminding herself of the address of the hotel she had just phoned. "Well, we aren't far, we should be going..."

Just then, she was interrupted as her communicator started bleeping. She answered it, and could hear the wedding march playing in the background.

"Gia, it's me." Orion answered. "Are you sure this is OK? It feels really weird!"

"It's fine Orion, really." Gia told him. "Just try to relax and look happy. That monster is..."

"How am I meant to relax?" He asked. "This is all..."

"Orion, do you realise how many guys would love to be in your position right now?" Jake told him, pulling Gia's communicator with an evil smirk. He could tell how awkward Orion had to be feeling about all of this. "Just try to have fun with it!"

"And make sure Emma looks like she's enjoying herself." Gia told the Silver Ranger, grinning a little.

"How am I meant to do that?" He asked her. He could hear some sniggering on the other end of the line.

"Just give her a kiss." Gia suggested. She hung up as Orion started to protest, looking over to Jake's seat. "Alright, let's just...hey, where did my scone go?"

"Uh...so...let's go look Cat up." Jake told her as he started to gather up his stuff. Gia knew damn fine what had happened, but even just hearing Jake say that, she really couldn't care less. She couldn't believe that soon, she was going to see the girl of her dreams again.

"WHAT?" Orion called out. He liked Emma, she was a friend, but he never really thought about her like that. "You want me to do what? Gia...Gia!"

Unfortunately, she had already hung up. As he put his morpher away in his sporran, he continued to face the front so that the few guests, likely a couple of parishioners that had been assembled at short notice as witnesses to the small wedding, didn't realise that he wasn't the groom they were here to see. He made sure to position himself in such a way that they couldn't see that the minister was in fact just his vestments that had been draped over a coat stand. Like the bride and groom, he had been sedated and left somewhere safe in order to keep the place clear while they enacted their plan. He jumped a little as he felt an arm slip into his. They both faced the front, while Emma played a recording of the vows being read. Orion just glanced to Emma.

"How long do we have to keep this up?" He asked her, drawing back her veil. Emma caught a little glance at the door, seeing it open ajar. Seeing Desolot's blue and yellow form through the crack, she smiled.

"Not much longer. He's here." She assured him. He seemed to be waiting for something. She called her blaster into her hand, and looked to Orion. "Pick me up."

Orion did as he was told, not really knowing where Emma was going with this. He saw the blaster in her hand and realised it was the only way she could think of to get into a better position to aim, while still keeping her blaster hidden from Desolot, cradled between them. She let herself get another glance at the door, seeing he was getting ready to make his move. He just needed a little push to convince him that they were truly happy.

"Kiss me." She told Orion. He just gulped.

"Um...are you sure...?"

"Oh for goodness sake!" She muttered, grabbing Orion and pulling him in, kissing him softly. The guests, who didn't seem to be any the wiser, cheered as they saw this. Desolot burst in from the back of the hall, levelling his staff their way.

"Now!" Emma called out, pulling out her blaster and aiming it straight for him.

"Everybody get down!" Orion screamed. The guests all hit the deck as Emma opened fire. She scored a few shots to his chest and gut, but smiled with satisfaction as she finally got her mark, the belt device he was wearing. Desolot just looked to them in panic.

"No! My belt!" He called out.

"Nice shot Emma." Orion complimented her with a smile.

"Thanks." She replied, blowing the smoke from the barrel of the gun casually. "Uh...Orion?"

"Yeah?" He asked.

"You can put me down now." She told him.

"Oh...right." He answered, setting her down gently.

"You cheated!" Desolot complained. "Now I'm stuck this size!"

"You won't be around long enough to care!" Emma assured him, pulling out her morpher. Before they could morph though, Desolot unleashed a whirlwind from his staff. Orion and Emma flew backwards, knocking over the "minister", revealing the final part of the ruse. By the time they got up, Desolot had already left.

"Which way did he go?" Orion called out. One of the startled guests just pointed shakily towards the main door.

"You'll find the real minister along with the bride and groom in the back!" Orion told the guest as they helped them up. "They should wake up in a few minutes."

"We're really sorry about this..."

"Are you kidding?" One of the others said with a massive grin, holding his video camera. "Michael and Nicola are two of the biggest Ranger fans in the city! Once they hear you crashed their wedding, they'll be stoked!"

"We promise we'll make this up to them later." Orion told the other guests. "But right now..."

"Just go!" One of the guests assured them. "Go kick that monster's arse!"

"Go Go Power Rangers!" They all yelled excitedly as Emma and Orion left, running down the street.

Over at the hotel, Gia and Jake were waiting in the lobby. Gia was pacing nervously, chewing her nails as Jake sat on a couch, watching her.

"Gia, will you sit down?" He asked.

"What's taking her so long?" Gia asked. "Do I look alright?"

"You look exactly like you did two minutes ago!" Jake told her, grabbing her and pulling her down. "Now would you stop? We're trying not to draw attention to ourselves remember? There are cameras all over this lobby!"

"I know, I'm sorry." Gia sighed. Jake just looked a little sympathetic. He could understand.

"For what it's worth, if it was Allison we were here to see, I'd probably be the same way." He assured her. Gia looked to him and smiled.

"I guess...I guess I am just a little...it's been a long time." Gia reminded him. "I guess, just hearing that I was going to see her again..."

"Believe me I get it." He replied. Just then, they saw Cat getting off the elevator. As Gia stood up, she almost fell back down again and needed to steady herself. For a moment, she stopped breathing, just seeing Cat again. Jake could only grin in delight seeing her. Cat was dressed in a bright dress that he remembered she loved wearing on special occasions, like the time she joined Gia and the others for a fancy meal on Gia's birthday. It looked like the time it took her to get down to the lobby was spent changing. It looked like Gia wasn't the only one thrilled at the prospect of their reunion.

"You...you're really here?" Cat asked. Gia just nodded, staring at her.

"Um...Cat...can we go somewhere there are less cameras?" Jake asked her. "You know...fugitives?"

"Oh...right." Cat told them. "Um...come on up. We can talk in my room."

Over in the Megazord, Jordan and Noah were busy running repairs. Unfortunately, having managed to make it to the main engine room, Desolot had caused a fair bit of damage that would hamper its performance. If it had just been a hull breach, it would have been a simple welding job. Noah pulled himself out from under some machinery.

"I really have to hand it to you Jordan; this is quite an impressive Zord you put together." Noah complimented him. Jordan just smiled.

"It turns out when dad awakened the Eltarian half of my DNA, I became a pretty quick study." He answered with a smirk. "I couldn't believe it myself when I managed to build Tensou's new body. It's like a lot of that stuff I used to struggle with just started falling into place."

"Tensou's body." Noah replied. "You mean the one we needed to keep hitting over the head to get the tracking software to work?"

"Hey, not everything YOU did worked out first time." Jordan responded to this light-hearted teasing. Just then, his communicator bleeped. Jordan answered it. "You're go for Jordan."

"Jordan, we're pursuing Desolot." Orion told him. "Emma wants to know how the repairs on the Megazord are going. Are you able to come and help?"

"It'll be a while yet." Jordan answered honestly. "I'd say...about 20 minutes."

"Well, could you hurry it up?" Orion asked. "Even without his size-changing gizmo, it turns out this guy is pretty tough!"

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Jordan assured him. He turned back to Noah. "OK, you change that breaker; I'll get started on patching up that hole in the hull."

Back at the hotel, Cat was on the phone to Kira's room. Jake was helping himself to some fizzy juice from the welcome basket in her room.

"I told Kira I had some design ideas I wanted to discuss with her." Cat said as she hung up the phone. A part of her didn't like lying to Kira when she had been so good to her, but Jake and Gia had explained everything. She was a little surprised to hear that she had stumbled into the employ of another Power Ranger, but she knew that Gia and Jake would not harm Kira. They just needed to get the keys from her. "She's coming to the room."

"You should really try this Irn-Bru." Jake stated, looking at the bottle. "I really need to find somewhere I can get this when I get home!"

He tailed off as he saw Cat and Gia staring at each other.

"I think I'll just wait in the bathroom." He stated. "No hurry...you know...fate of the world and everything...but...yeah."

As he went back into the bathroom, Cat looked to Gia.

"You look really good." Cat complimented her. "I never thought..."

"Cat...I know you lied about Tamzin." Gia interrupted her. Cat gulped.

"Aw jeez." Cat exclaimed. Gia just took her hand.

"Cat, I know this is difficult." Gia told her. "Please, I need to know..."

"I...I thought it would be easier that way." Cat said, a tear rolling down her face. "I couldn't sleep at night worrying about you. I couldn't get through the day without wondering if something horrible happened to you. I was watching the news all the time for some word on the Rangers. I just...I knew that what you do is dangerous and I thought maybe if you weren't thinking about me..."

"I was always thinking about you." Gia told her. "I might have had one less problem without you, but I gained a bunch more. You broke my heart."

"I broke my own first." Cat sniffed. "But I thought that would be worth it if you were safe. I knew you'd fight for me, so the only way I could think of to make you give up on me was if you thought...if you were angry with me. If you thought I had cheated. I'm sorry."

Gia wiped away some of her tears and looked into Cat's face.

Just then, the door opened and Kira came in, closing the door behind her.

"Alright Cat, let's see what you..." She had startled both of them, and Cat had ended up in Gia's arms. Kira could see a stranger holding Cat, who had tears running down her face. Her fists clenched.

"Uh..." Gia looked at the way she was holding Cat, who still had tears in her eyes, and appreciated what it had to look like. She immediately let Cat go and held up her hands. "Um...this isn't what it looks like..."

It was too late though, Kira had already rushed across the room, attacking Gia ferociously. Taken by surprise by the speed of the attack, Gia was kicked across the room, her head colliding with the wall. He fell to the floor and stopped moving. Jake approached from behind her, and grabbed her, only to find his arm twisted into a harsh arm-lock.

"Ow...let go! This isn't what you think!" Jake told her.

"Tell it to the cops!" Kira told him.

"We're Power Rangers too!" Jake managed to force out. Kira let go of his arm, but turned him to face her, shoving him against the wall.

"Alright, you know who I am, that means you know what I can do!" Kira told him. "Now, how about you tell me who you are and what you want here, or I start screaming...and at this range, that pretty little head of yours will pop like a balloon!"

"Kira, don't they're friends!" Cat called out.

"We're...we're the Corsair Rangers." Jake rushed out. "I'm the Green Ranger."

"So why are you wearing black?" Kira asked him.

"That's...a long story." He told her. "My name's Jake, this is Gia."

"Gia...as in...your ex-girlfriend?" Kira asked Cat. Cat just nodded as she helped Gia into a sitting position. She was starting to come to, but the side of her face was swelling up. Kira released Jake. "So, it wasn't just a coincidence your team showed up at the last three venues I was meant to be playing."

"We think you have something we need." Jake told her. He pulled out his Ranger Key, showing it to Kira. "We've been collecting these all year. There's one for every Ranger, and all the Ranger allies. The Dino Thunder team is the last team we have to collect."

"What makes you think that I have them?" Kira asked him. Jake just sighed.

"It's...a long story." He could see Kira was still on edge. He didn't think the explanation that a robot parrot told him she had the keys would exactly help his case. "We did some research. We know you, Conner, Ethan, Trent and Tommy were the Rangers, and we knew that one of you had to have them."

"So you were just going to visit each of us in turn." Kira responded. She looked to Cat, who was still tending to Gia and took a deep breath. "So, you need these keys?"

"Yes, we're uniting the powers of all the past Rangers." Jake told her. "We think our mentor; Gosei has a plan to use them to defeat The Armada for good."

Kira just glared at him.

"Please, we're all Rangers." He told her. "We know you're retired, but you came through before when you were needed in San Angeles. Please, we're just asking for this one thing."

Kira went over to the bed, and sat down. She pulled out a necklace, on which her own Ranger Key was hanging.

"Dr O told me these were important." Kira told them, reaching to her boot. She opened up the heel, revealing a compartment, holding the Blue Dino Thunder Key. The other held the Red key. "He figured that since I was going on tour, since I'd always be on the move, it was best I keep the keys. He told me to keep them close at all times."

She finished, by reaching into her jacket, tearing open the lining. She fished out the Black Dino Thunder Key, completing the collection. She handed them over.

"That's all I have." She told him. "I don't know where the White one..."

"We already have that." Jake told her. "It's..."

"A long story." Kira sighed. "Ranger stories always are. That's why we usually wait until after our battles to share them."

"Right, we need to help Emma." Jake replied. "Gia, come on!"

Gia got up, but quickly lost her balance and had to sit back down. Cat looked to her in concern.

"Sorry, I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while." Gia said apologetically, looking to Kira. "You rang my bell pretty good."

"Sorry about that." Kira responded. "I know how much it sucks when a team is short-handed."

"I guess it's just as well our morphing powers aren't bound only to us." Gia replied, pulling out her morpher and Ranger Key. "Would you mind doing us one more favour?"

"I guess I should make this up to you." Kira answered, taking the morpher. "Alright then newbie...tell me how this thing works."

As Kira and Jake left, Cat helped Gia onto the bed.

"Cat, stop fussing." Gia told her, trying to get up. "I'll be...ok...I need to lie down!" Cat just sighed in response.

"I really hate how you guys play pirates." She muttered.


	18. Desolot Desolate

Jake and Kira arrived at the gates of Kelvingrove Park, just as Jordan and Noah arrived. They could already hear a lot of chaos inside. A lot of people were carrying kids, most of who seemed completely distraught, and were crying hysterically. It wasn't as though that didn't happen at other battles, but this time it seemed so much worse. There were so many people in tears.

"Why are there so many kids here?" Noah asked.

"It's a holiday weekend here, the September weekend." Kira told him. "That's why my concert was booked for this weekend, so that my young fans could go without having to worry about school the next day."

"I guess it makes sense." Jake replied. "I mean, if weddings are a bust, where's a better place to find happiness than where a bunch of kids are playing?"

"It's sick, that's what it is!" Jordan stated. "They're taking happiness from kids?"

"Uh...where's Gia?" Noah asked. Kira just held up the morpher.

"There was a slight misunderstanding. I'm filling in." She told him. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

As she ran into the park, the three guys just stared after her.

"Was that Kira Ford?" Jordan asked. The other two just nodded. "And...that just happened right?" Again, they just nodded.

"Come on." Jake responded with a huge smile. "We've got a legendary substitute!"

As they got into the park, they saw that the place was already a wreck. Trees were burned, turf had been ripped up, there were deep craters in a few places, and the whole place smelled of a sickening burning. They saw someone struggling to get up. They ran over, finding Orion pulling himself back to his feet, steadying himself against a tree. They could see a nasty cut above his left eye, leaking blood, and he was holding his ribs. He had his morpher in his hand.

"Orion!" Jordan called out.

"Emma's still out there!" Orion told them. They looked over, seeing her fighting with Desolot. Even without his tricks and his belt, it seemed he was a dangerous foe. Emma was grappling with him, having a firm grip on his staff, refusing to let go no matter how many times he hit her, or how many times he slammed her into the various trees and monuments around the park. "I need to..."

"Orion..."

"I'll be fine, I've had worse!" Orion assured Noah. "We need to help her!"

He tried to morph, but fumbled the morpher. Jake helped steady him.

"We'll all help her." He assured him. "We need..."

"I have an idea." Kira told them. "Everyone, cover your ears and open your mouths."

"What?" Jake asked.

"If you don't, your ear drums will explode!" Kira explained in a hurry, seeing Emma take another hard hit. "Emma doesn't have long, just do it!"

The others had done their research, and knew that some Rangers had additional powers in addition to their Ranger powers. Kira, they knew, had a sonic scream that was able to disable opponents. They all did as she said, while Kira took some deep breaths in preparation.

Emma was still struggling with Desolot, trying to get his staff from him. She knew that he had been gathering happiness in his staff. It disgusted her to think of what he had stolen. There was a bride and groom who were miserable on what should have been the happiest day of their lives. There were kids who moments before had been having the time of their lives, playing in the park on what was an admittedly mild day for this time in Scotland. She knew he was taking happiness as some form of medicine for Vekar, but right now she didn't care about that. Letting him suffer longer was just a bonus.

Every muscle felt like it was already torn, hanging by a thread. Her shoulders and elbows felt like they had been torn out as he continually yanked her around, trying to get her to let go of the staff.

Her vision was already blurred, he had done everything he could to get her to let go, but no matter what, Emma clutched to it for all she was worth. If he wanted to take the staff to Vekar, he was taking her with it. Happiness, dreams, they were the most wonderful things in the world. She couldn't let him steal them, no matter what it cost her.

"Let go you psychopath!" Desolot screamed at her, pulling her in and kneeing her in the ribs. Emma felt wind being knocked from her, but she was running on nothing but adrenaline. She didn't even know if her ribs had held out against the blow. All she knew was that she couldn't let go. If she did, that happiness was gone forever.

"That happiness doesn't belong to you!" Emma screamed at her. "I'll NEVER let you take it while I have one breath left in my body!"

"Then I guess there's an easy way to remedy that isn't there?" Desolot asked. He picked her up, hoping to slam her down, but Emma shifted her weight. Putting her feet into his stomach, she flipped him over, causing him to land a little way off. Emma tried to get up, stumbling as she did so. She stopped, however, before she hit the ground. It was only then she looked to the side, realising she was holding the staff! Desolot had been surprised by the sacrifice throw. He had let go when he was flipped into the air! She now had the staff!

"Hey Emma!" She heard someone yelling. She looked across, recognising Kira vaguely through her hazy vision. She could only presume that Gia had found her. "Brace yourself!"

Kira took a massive breath in, before unleashing her Ptera Scream, giving it everything she had. The ground shook, like a low-level earthquake, and the ground split. Glasses and bottles left by families taking the time for a picnic shattered under the abuse.

Emma held her hands over her ears and opened her mouth as the sound-wave hit. Her suit took the brunt of the abuse, finally losing power and leaving her de-morphed, forcing her to her knees. She looked over to Desolot, seeing him being bowled away a significant difference, sparking each time he hit the ground or a tree. When he finally hit the ground, almost fifty feet away, Emma could feel the vibrations stop. Emma had stopped the scream. She now had the space she needed.

Desolot pulled himself shakily to his feet. His hearing was obliterated, and his balance was shot too. He didn't know why, but looking across, he could see Emma standing up with what remained of her strength. She was bruised all over, and there were numerous cuts leaking blood at a worrying rate.

"You...you insufferable Ranger!" He rushed out. "You'll feel the full fury of my...where's my staff?"

"Looking for this?" Emma yelled. Desolot couldn't hear her. His hearing was still completely obliterated by the Ptera Scream, but he could see Emma holding the staff. She glanced down to a concrete foot path through the park. "This is going to make ME very happy!"

With that, she used every ounce of her remaining strength to swing it as hard as she could into the pavement. The staff shattered, unleashing a bright pink light, which flew off in several different directions. From experience, the Rangers knew this usually meant that the spell was broken, and the happiness he had taken was returning to its rightful owners. Emma let out a little smile as she saw this, before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the ground, completely spent.

"EMMA!" Jordan screamed as he, Noah and Orion all ran to her side to check on her. Jake remained with Kira, who was on her knees from the exertion. He helped her up.

"I...I thought your Ptera Scream only stunned people." He commented.

"Let's just say, in the last 10 years I've had a lot of time to exercise its limits." She assured him. Noah just nodded nervously. What she had asked them to do, to hold their hands over their ears and open their mouths was something artillery men were taught to do. The sound vibrations from an artillery shell would otherwise cause enough air pressure to build up that the crew's ear drums would explode. Seeing what her scream had accomplished, he had to wonder exactly how powerful it really was. If anything, the only real limit was down to what her lungs and her vocal chords could withstand.

"Emma, Emma!" Noah called out, checking on her vitals, making sure she was breathing, but finding himself unable to rouse her. "She's out, there's no way about it." Jordan pulled out his communicator.

"Tensou!" He barked. "Emma's out, teleport her back to the ship for urgent medical care!"

"Right away!" Tensou replied. It wasn't long before Emma disappeared from their arms. As Jordan got up with the others, they all looked to Desolot, who was starting to get his bearings.

"You destroyed my staff!" He screamed at them. "I promised Prince Vekar his cure! Without it, I can never return to his ship!"

"That's not really our problem!" Jordan told him. "What is our problem is the fact that you hurt our friend!"

"What?" Desolot called out. Jordan just snorted. He could tell that because of the scream, Desolot was now deaf and could not hear him.

"Let's see if you hear this!" He replied as he morphed. Kira, Noah, Jake and Orion all did likewise. Desolot let out a hellish scream, and rushed straight for them.

"Your choice!" Jordan called out as they ran to the attack. Desolot fought with the power of the desperate, knowing that he had failed in his mission. If he returned to the ship empty-handed now, having promised Prince Vekar a cure to his condition, he would likely be executed...most likely in the most agonising way the Prince could imagine, and his imagination was pretty disturbing on that account. He knew that taking on the Rangers was a tough prospect, but given the alternative...he had a feeling the worst-case scenario was that they would give him a quicker end.

As he staggered back from one of Desolot's blows, Jordan looked to Kira.

"How do you feel about a real nostalgia trip?" He asked her. She just smiled.

"Oh yeah!" She replied, pulling out her key.

"Dino Thunder!" They screamed, turning the keys in their morphers. In a flash of light, they all took their new forms.

"Now THIS brings back some memories!" Kira stated, pulling out her Ptera Grips. "Alright, let me show you how we did it in my day!"

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Lavira was tending to the Prince in his room. He was surrounded by used tissues and a collection of empty bowls. He had taken Lavira at her word that chicken soup was a "medicine" that really alleviated the symptoms. She got an alert on her communicator, and just sighed as she saw it.

"What is it?" He asked her. "What's happening?"

"I am afraid that Desolot's staff has been destroyed." She told him. "He has failed in retrieving your cure."

"You...you mean I have to endure this affliction longer?" He asked. "He better not show his face around here again or I'll ensure he knows what suffering is!"

"He...uh..." Lavira was thankful that he didn't sneeze. She had a feeling that his immune system was starting to get over the cold; it had been a while since his last sneeze. Vekar, of course, wasn't keeping track of such things. He only wanted everyone to know how much he was suffering. "He is still battling the Rangers."

"Well that's more like it!" He replied with a little lift in his spirits. "He can make them pay for prolonging my suffering! If he destroys them, I may even reward him!"

"You are as generous as you are handsome my Prince!" Lavira complimented him. He took her hand, caressing it softly.

"I...I could not have endured this torture without you." He told her. "I promise you, we will have the Royal Wedding to end all others in the ashes of the Rangers' home city."

"Oh, my sweetens, you're so romantic!" She replied. "Yes, I accept...YES!"

Meanwhile, on the Red Galleon, Emma started to come to with a pounding headache. As she tried to move, Tensou appeared before her.

"I wouldn't do that." He told her. "You've taken quite a beating."

"Where are the others?" She asked him.

"They're still fighting Desolot." He told her. Emma started to get up, only for him to renew his objection. "Emma!"

"I...I can't sit this out!" Emma told him. "I...I need to go and help them!"

"Just...stay here!" He told her. "Look, they're nearly done!"

"But...they'll need the Megazord!" Emma answered.

"You're...kind of already here?" Tensou reminded her. He turned on a monitor. "Now, if I let you watch, do you promise to lie down until you're needed?"

Emma nodded reluctantly and lay back down, letting Tensou continue his work.

Back on the ground, the Rangers were taking Desolot to task. Kira's high-powered Ptera Scream had weakened him so much that the little power boost from Legendary Mode made all the difference. Jake stepped up.

"Brachio Staff! Fire Strike!" He called out, launching a jet of flame his way. Desolot fell to the ground, engulfed in flames as the team assembled.

"Alright, how about we do this one for your team?" Orion suggested. Kira just nodded.

"T-Rex Blaster!" They called out, assembling their weapons. Desolot just stood up in time to see Kira waving.

"Say bye bye!" She said as they opened fire. Desolot was hit full on, and stood, staggering for a moment, sparking as his energy left him. He fell face-first to the ground, exploding as he landed. The Rangers all turned back into Corsair Mode.

"So...what's the victory call these days?" Kira asked.

"We...kind of don't really have one." Jordan told her honestly. "Dino Thunder Roar?"

"Don't be a dork." Kira reprimanded him with a slight giggle. Although she loved her civilian life, there was a part of her that had to admit, it felt good being back in action.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Prince Vekar was watching the action. He just let out a huge yell, seeing this turn of events.

"Those accursed Rangers plague me more than any virus ever could!" He screamed. "Lavira, where's the Maximiser?"

"Here it is my Prince!" She told him, putting it into his hand. "Let's do this together!"

They aimed the Maximiser at the screen, and pulled the trigger. The rays fired from the ship, slamming into the Earth where Desolot had fallen. Jordan just sighed.

"Yeah, we still do this." He told Kira, seeing the way she looked at him.

"Well, in my day they used rain, so...I guess this is a step up...right?" She asked. "So...I'm guessing you guys have Zords?"

"You have no idea!" Jordan told her. "Orion, call yours too! Let's show the old-timer how we do things in OUR day!"


	19. The End of the Search?

The Megazord was rocked as Desolot hit another attack, sparks flying around the control room. Jake pulled out a fire-extinguisher, putting out a minor blaze at Kira's console.

"Sometimes nostalgia isn't a good thing." She grumbled. "This guy is seriously getting on my nerves now!"

"Power levels are dropping." Emma stated from her console, having joined them for this stage of the battle. "He's really letting us have it."

"I guess its do or die time for him." Noah added. "I doubt Prince Vekar would take too kindly to him coming back empty handed. He's more scared of him than he is of us."

"Guys, I'm taking a beating here!" Orion said over the communicator. "If anyone has any ideas, now would be a good time!"

"We combine the Megazords!" Kira suggested. The others just looked to her. "No, I'm serious, it'll work. I can't explain it, but it'll work, I just know it!"

Jordan pulled out the Red Dino Thunder key and looked at it as it started to glow. He just smiled.

"Guys, get out the DT keys." He told them. "You too Orion."

"But..."

"No, seriously, Kira's right, it'll work!" He assured them. They all did as they were told, turning their keys in the locks.

They all watched as the Q-Rex came apart, and the arms of the Megazord detached. The Q-Rex's arms locked into place, and in a bright flash of light, Orion found himself sitting in the cockpit with the others. He looked around, clearly startled.

"What the...how...?"

"It gets pretty crowded doesn't it?" Kira asked. Orion jut nodded.

"I can just feel the power off this thing!" Noah commented. "It's immense!"

"Well let's get that power going the right direction!" Jordan responded. They moved forward hitting Desolot with the drill arm, causing him to scream out in agony. Lifting him up with it, Orion slammed him down, splintering the concrete.

"He's on his last legs!" Jake stated. "Let's finish him off!"

The Rangers all gripped the controls, channelling all of their power into the console. Desolot stood up just in time to see the drill coming his way, glowing with power. Knowing that it was a better end than he could expect if he returned to the ship, he closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Prince Vekar watched as Desolot exploded. He grabbed one of the empty soup bowls from his bedside table and threw it at the screen, shattering the bowl as it hit.

"Those blasted Rangers!" He screamed. "Why must they always win? Why must they always come up with a new plan or weapon just when I'm about to win?"

"They have power at their disposal, but they don't have the power you do my Prince!" Lavira said in a soothing voice, placing her hand on his forearm. "They take advantage of the ineptitude of your underlings! They gain some...some great power from the people of Earth..."

"They gain power from the people?" He asked her. She just nodded.

"I don't understand it completely but they do." She told him. "Because people still believe in them, still believe they can win, and because they support the Rangers instead of our occupation, the Rangers..."

"That's...that's IT!" Vekar screamed, sitting bolt upright. "Lavira, you're as ingenious as you are beautiful!"

He grabbed her face, crushing his lips to hers enthusiastically. As they parted, she just looked to him in amazement.

"My Prince?" She asked him. He just smiled.

"They get their strength from the people that support them?" He asked. "Then we take those people away from them."

Back in the city of Glasgow, Kira led the Rangers back to the hotel, taking them towards Cat's room. Despite the harsh battle, they all had a skip in their step. Even Emma, who still bore the marks of her brutal beating at Desolot's hands was smiling.

"I can't believe it, the first time I'm going to a concert on this planet, and I'm going as an invited guest of the lead act!" Orion said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Kira just smiled.

"Well, we Rangers are kind of like the Marine Corp...there's no such thing as an ex-Ranger really." She assured them. "I still get free pizza any time I'm in Ocean Bluff!"

"I can't believe we actually get backstage passes to se Kira Ford!" Emma reiterated. "Gia's going to have a heart attack when she hears that! She has all your albums!"

"Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint a fan now would I?" Kira asked, knocking the door. She didn't get an answer. After trying and failing again to get an answer, she pulled out a key, letting herself in.

"Gia, it's us!" Kira announced. "We finished off that guy and whoOOOOOAH!"

She slammed the door shut, looking a little flushed.

"What?" Jake asked.

"I...think we should just get going to the concert." Kira told him.

"But Gia will miss it!" Jake replied.

"Uh...somehow I doubt she's going to care much." Kira answered. The other Rangers all just stared at Kira as she started to go a little pink. "Um...I'll call my driver and have him take us to the arena. We can eat when we get there."

As they started to leave, Kira let the Rangers get a little way ahead of her, before pulling out her cell phone.

"Hello, reception?" She asked. "Yes, this is Kira Ford, can you have some chocolate covered strawberries and some champagne sent to room 609 in about 20 minutes?"

She looked back to the door and smiled.

"On second thoughts...better make that half an hour." She said, before hanging up, heading to the elevator.

On The Armada Command Ship, a new Commander was sent to Prince Vekar's chambers. He was a bizarre looking creature, kind of like a blue and yellow harlequin with an upside down face. As he arrived, he bowed in reverance to his master.

"My Prince, you summoned me?" He asked. Prince Vekar just smiled as he blew his nose, tossing the tissue aside.

"Yes, yes I did." Prince Vekar greeted him. "Tell me; remind me of your name again?"

"Transferacer my Lord." He replied obediently. Prince Vekar propped himself up on his pillows.

"You have a particular talent that helped us out on a particularly troublesome world don't you?" He asked. "You switched the minds of the planet's leaders..."

"With insects if I recall." He chuckled. "I believe that siege was over in a week when their generals were spending all their time looking for animal droppings."

"Well, I have a project I believe you are perfect for." He told him. "These Power Rangers...people on Earth still believe them to be heroes...that somehow they will save them. I want the people of Earth to believe they are the menaces I see them as!"

"I don't understand My Prince." He responded.

"Just get the leader of the free world to go on the record as declaring them the enemy." He answered, throwing down a photograph. "I believe they call him the President."

"Zack Taylor." Transferacer said aloud, reading the name under the picture. "I'll need to know where he'll be, and some back-up to take care of his security."

"Consider it done." Prince Vekar replied.

The following morning, Kira and Cat went with the Rangers to Glasgow Harbour, where they had docked and cloaked their ship while they attended the concert. They all looked to Kira as she smiled.

"Well, that concert was pretty epic." Jordan complimented her. "You are a pretty amazing singer!"

"Well, if your vocal chords can withstand sound waves that can shatter concrete...you can hit a high B pretty easily." She told him. While Kira had been a good singer anyway, one of the fringe benefits of her Ranger days was that her lungs and vocal chords were a lot more durable, meaning that her vocal range had expanded by a remarkable degree. One of the keys to her success was her incredible vocal range.

"It was an amazing night." Emma told her. "Thanks for the signed t-shirts."

"Hey, anything for a fellow Ranger right?" She asked. Cat approached Gia slowly.

"I'm really sorry." She told her. Gia just reached up to her face, stroking her cheek gently.

"Take care of yourself." She told her with a smile. "With any luck this won't take much longer."

Cat pulled in, kissing Gia passionately, before releasing her. Kira put her arm around her, pulling her in and holding her as the Rangers got onto the Red Galleon, before taking off. As they went, they all waved, standing by the rail.

"Well, that's it." Noah stated. "We now have all the keys."

"It's been a long search, but you guys did it. You really did it." Jordan complimented them. "You got all the keys. You now have all the powers of the Rangers at your disposal!"

"So what now?" Jake asked. Jordan was about to say something, but then he just paused. He looked to them, and could see the hopeful look on their faces fade as he gave the only answer he could.

"Uh...dad wasn't too clear on that part." He told them. "Until he gets back in touch...I really don't know!"

Fin

**A/N:** Yes, I know...another cliffhanger! This story is done, but the war is far from over! The Rangers still have a long way to go, and a lot of questions need answered. Stay tuned for the next story which promises more action, more adventure...and a big return! Thanks for reading!


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